The Akufo-Addo-led government has selected Quarm-LMI as the preferred developer to complete the long-delayed Saglemi Housing Project. This decision, announced in a press release by the Ministry of Works and Housing on Friday, October 18, 2024, follows extensive negotiations involving representatives from the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, Deloitte, and the Ghana Institute of Surveyors, which provided technical evaluation support.
The redevelopment will be managed through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), with the government’s existing investment in the project treated as equity. This structure ensures that both the government and Quarm-LMI will recover their investments once the project is finished.
Initially intended to deliver 5,000 affordable housing units, the Saglemi Housing Project cost the taxpayer $200 million. However, when construction was halted, only 1,506 units had been partially completed, and these were deemed uninhabitable due to the lack of basic infrastructure such as water, electricity, and sanitation.
A subsequent valuation by the Ghana Institute of Surveyors revealed that an additional $100 million would be required to complete the unfinished units—a sum the government was unable to provide.
The completion of the Saglemi Housing Project is expected to make a huge contribution to reducing Ghana’s housing deficit, which currently stands at 1.8 million.
By: Ekow Annan/newsalertgh.com
