The Sustainable Development Goals (8, 10, and 11) advocate for sustained, inclusive, and decent work for all; reduction in inequalities; and resilient, safe, and sustainable cities and human settlements, respectively.
In implementing these goals, housing which is one of the necessities of humans is central. Good housing in a friendly neighbourhood encourages good health, improves labour productivity, fosters social stability, and can be used as an economic tool.
However, as it stands now, the growing inequalities in housing in Ghana will thwart any advancement in achieving these goals. According to data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on housing, the national housing deficit as of the end of the 2021 Population and Housing Census stands at 1.8 million.
To change the narrative, there must be a deliberate effort to ensure equal access to decent housing. This is where Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu Constituency, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin comes into the picture.
When ModernGhana News heard about the housing project, the first of its kind by a Member of Parliament, the team set off on a journey to Winneba to have a bird’s eye view of the project. The 50 affordable housing units was self-funded by Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin with plans to add more.
Located at Gyengyenadze, a community in his constituency, the 1, 2 & 3 bedrooms unit has been completed with some occupied. The project was a deliberate effort by the MP to ensure that accommodation does not become a barrier for anyone including workers and particularly public officers and personnel to accept postings to the constituency.
The serene, clean and conducive environment of Winneba with lots of site-seeing places will shush you. The hankering of Honourable Afenyo-Markin was that making available cheap housing units will cajole people to begin to have the thought of owning a home in Winneba to help boost economic activities in the area.
The project, though distant from Winneba town, was also the vision of Alexander Afenyo-Markin to spread development to other parts of the constituency. It was also deliberate to ensure that every part of the constituency becomes viable with its share of the developmental projects, persons from the lawmaker’s office told ModernGhana Team during the tour of the constituency.
Strategically, the site for the project is already boosting the local economy of Gyengyenadze which is about 15-20 minutes drive from the main Winneba roundabout which has been reconstructed and designed by Alexander Afenyo-Markin named ‘Reconciliation Roundable’, also another entire story to be told in our subsequent publications of the massive projects dotted across the Effutu Constituency.
Not too far from the estate is a separate land the MP is constructing a new one-storey high court complex, new storey building for Ghana National Fire Service, new storey building for National Health Insurance Authority and a new storey building for the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), all in the same location.
Construction of all four office buildings ongoing at Gyengyenadze
A 5minutes drive on a tarred road is a small community where the MP is also constructing a children’s hospital which is 65% complete.
Source: Modern Ghana
