9th January, 2011
For the first time since the administration of the first civilian governor of Ondo State, late Chief Adekunle Ajasin, the incumbent governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko at the weekend broke the 30 year jinx of government’s non-involvement in direct construction of houses as he performed the ground breaking of the Ondo State Development and Property Corporation Estate in Akure the State capital.
Tagged “OSDPC ESTATEâ€, over 100 housing units of different types are being constructed in the First Phase of the project costing over N600 million at Ilekun, Oda Road in Akure South Local Government Area.
The first phase is expected to be completed and ready for commissioning by the end of the first quarter of this year.
Addressing the gathering, the Governor Mimiko said the Second Phase of the project, which was to complement the Public-Private Partnership arrangements and reduce the housing deficits and shortages that prevalent in the State capital and other urban areas of the State, would commence immediately after the completion of the First Phase.
According to him, “the multiplier effect of this policy is enormous: The housing project is providing jobs for the local contractors, artisans, skilled and unskilled labour. The business environment is also being revitalized as trading opportunities are being created for erstwhile unemployed citizens.
“The State government has also encouraged OSDPC to explore strategies of using local building materials with low import content to build low cost houses. The Corporation will, and very soon too, put in the market, brick houses for sale. The State government has also resuscitated and funded the State Housing Loans Board to enable public officers access loans to build their own houses.
“From the inception of this administration, we recognized and took decisive actions to address the gargantuan challenges facing the good people of this state as regards access to decent and affordable accommodation. This administration, within 60 days of its inauguration, adopted the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) concept as a housing development strategy in recognition of the very important roles the private sector can play in housing delivery in the stateâ€.
On why the housing problem had persisted in the State over the years, Mimiko threw a punch at succeeding administration that “if every government comes and produced just 200 or even 100 units of housing, the problem of insufficient houses would have been reduced. “I want to assure our people that we will not embark on any housing estate that will not be completed with the necessary infrastructure, if there are houses without the infrastructure; it is like multiplying slums in the State†the governor assured.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the Corporation, Chief Bamidele Awosika hinted that there were 20 housing estates spread across the three Senatorial Districts of the State and Abuja under the control of the Corporation and appealed for assistance in providing necessary infrastructure to boost the effectiveness of the sites and services scheme of these estates.
Under the PPP arrangement, construction of housing units is on-going at both Oba Ile and Oda Road Housing Estates as part of government efforts to provide affordable housing for the populace.
