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Gov Mbah tasks varsities on affordable building materials

From Magnus Eze, Enugu

Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah has charged universities and research institutes to find a way of reducing the high cost of housing through creative fabrications of local building materials, using indigenous materials known to the natives.

This is as the Federal Government commended the Enugu State Government over its housing development policy and for creating an enabling environment for private sector participation in housing development of the State.

The governor stated this when the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, performed the ground breaking ceremony of Graceland Estate in Coal City Eastern Extension Alliance Estate, Enugu, on Wednesday.

Represented by his Deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, the governor said that the administration had promised Enugu people support for private sector housing development driven by the state government.

“A society that is unable to accommodate its citizens suffers a great deal. Part of the challenges we witness in housing is cost and we are witnesses to the spiral cost of housing materials. Even delivering water to the sites has tripled and quadrupled. The devaluation of our currency leading to high cost of labour have all made it difficult for the average person access homes even when they are developed.

“So, the challenge is to creatively design an approach that will make this project, accessible and affordable to our people. In events like this, it’s time we begin to work with our universities, engineering departments of our universities, to begin to look at creative ways to bring down the cost of house. Our universities should begin to look at what values our native roofing materials can add to our present housing so as to replace the high cost of asbestos and roofing sheets with what we can grow in our farms which will also have multiplier effects on job creation,” he said.

The Minister disclosed that the 10,000-housing unit Coal City Eastern Extension Layout, aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s goal to deliver quality and affordable housing to all Nigerians.

 

He said: “In the South East, we selected Enugu for the development of a 2,000-unit Renewed Hope City, which will be delivered as part of the MoU we signed with a consortium of developers for 100,000 housing units nationwide.

 

“I want to commend the Enugu State Government, under the leadership of His Excellency, Dr. Peter Mbah, for providing this massive piece of land, estimated at over 260 hectares, in a viable and accessible location for the project. This demonstrates visionary leadership and a strong understanding of the importance of housing to the economic development of the state.”

 

General Manager of Enugu State Housing Development Corporation (ESHDC), Gerald Asogwa noted that the project marked Governor Mbah’s visionary leadership that will not only contribute to the economic growth of the state, but also enhance the quality of life of the people.

 

 

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