GENERAL Manager, Ogun State Housing Corporation (OGSHC), Wale Ojo, has revealed that the proposed 2,500 low-cost housing units in the state will be completed using direct labour and local contents.
This, he said, follows the directive of Governor Dapo Abiodun, who ordered the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to always consider local contents and direct labour in any of capital projects undertaken by the state government.
He quoted the governor as saying that such would help to reduce the cost of governance and create more value in the public service and against the backdrop of the dwindling revenue and economic realities in the country.
Ojo, who stated this during an in-house refresher training organised against the Challenges of the 21st Century Real Estate Opportunities in Abeokuta, last Thursday, added that the 2,500 housing units will be replicated in all the three senatorial districts of the state.
He noted that by the end of the year, a lot of achievements would have been recorded regarding the construction of the housing projects.
“We have come to leverage on the capacity in-house, this is a housing agency. The capacity here is huge if you get contracted in this type of project that is going to add to the cost even with what we have done.
“The houses are coming below their cost of production courtesy of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun’s directive on direct labour and local content is the best option for an affordable housing delivery of this magnitude. As an organisation that has a goal of affordable housing, we cannot afford to continue to do things the same way and expect different results.
“We have been having success in the past years but that is not enough for us. The management and board sat down to look at the view of new trends of real estate development in the country and all over the world. Competitors are growing everyday and the competition is becoming so pronounced.”
The competition is going on everyday and we can’t relent, we need to reposition the corporation and in the wisdom of His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun, we were directed to adopt direct labour and local content and the corporation should proceed with the training to reposition its staff and management ahead of future commitments.
“For instance, the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led Administration is to deliver 2,500 housing units across three Senatorial Districts of Ogun State and that is what we have been doing within the last two years under this administration and we are actually just starting, by the end of this year everyone will see the magic that will come through the housing corporation as far as the provision housing units is concerned,” Ojo said.
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