The Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Oyetunde Ojo, has said the agency would not accept inflation as an excuse for failure to deliver on projects from developers.
Ojo gave the warning in an interaction with reporters after leading his team to inspect FHA Ajoda GRA, Ibadan on Monday.
In his team were the executive director, Remi Omowaye and directors of the agency.
The project, which sits on 56 acres of land along the Ibadan-Ife expressway, was flagged off four years ago.
After inspecting the extent of work on the six lots of over 1,000 units of flats, Ojo expressed dissatisfaction with the progress on some of the lots and warned that the agency could revoke the approval for the developers who fail to deliver at the agreed time and with the specified quality.
His words: “The FHA and Ajoda project was incorporated four years ago as a private-public partnership (PPP) project. It is a Private Public Partnership project and six contractors were incorporated into it to deliver. That is why we have lots one to six and the purpose is for affordable housing units, off-takers also to partner government institutions. For example, where we are is lots 4 and 5, lots 5 and 6. The off-takers are government agencies including the University College Hospital (UCH), Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB). The purpose of it is to make sure that affordable housing is available to all.
“The assessment visit is going to be a nationwide activity. FHA is a nationwide project. It is not only southwest. We have six geo-political zones and we are starting with the Southwest zone. Then, we move to other zones.
“To be honest with you, our satisfaction with the project here is about 20 to 25 per cent because out of six partners, we can see that only one partner who is in charge of Lots 4 and 5 has actually worked to satisfaction. This is also to pass a message to most of our partners and most of our contractors in direct construction that the vision of President Bola Tinubu about affordable housing, is delivered at the right time. We are not here for land speculation or housing speculation, we know this game. We implore our partners to please speed up their work because this is a partnership. We can’t keep land for 10 to 15 years and people will be using it for speculations. We are in this business.
“When we get to Abuja, our team will sit down with them because this is just 20 to 25 per cent satisfaction.”
When the impact of inflation was raised as a concern, Ojo said: “This inflation is going to be a temporary thing because Mr. President is working day and night to curtail it. And remember, the inflation is not only in Nigeria. It is a global thing. We would always navigate through it to deliver on our mandate.
“We will do it in such a way that there is no need for you doing finish the product for people, do a carcass, do a semi-finished product, we do the exterior. Where we are, you can see the exterior, the windows, the doors, you put in the electrical, let the person come and finish it. I should not determine what kind of tiles to use. It depends on your pocket. Why would I determine for you to use a gold marble? It should be determined by yourself. That is how it will be affordable.
“People like Alhaji Jakande have done it in the past, President Tinubu has done it in Lagos and you are also planning to build one bedroom, studios and carcass, especially for the age range of 20 to 30-year olds to be able to afford a house as a bachelor or spinster and you are also looking at an area where civic servants from Level 7 and below can also afford. That is why we look into one-bedroom units. We look into a carcass building and we also look into two and three beds for elite class for those that can afford it. We are not going to do finishing inside; you will decide your own finishing yourself with the size of your pocket…
“We should also be very careful of one thing, we know when inflation started. A project like this should not come under inflation as a reason for failure to deliver. It started four years ago. It is a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) and that is why I said we will not tolerate land speculators or property speculators. If a contractor came on a project like this four years ago and he is telling us about inflation, he should be extremely careful and we are passing a message, not on this site alone, but in most of our PPP projects. They ought to have been delivered because they started four years ago.”
Ojo assured subscribers of quality houses and timely delivery.
The Nation
