The Federal Government’s National Housing Programme (NHP) in Oyo State has created 4,090 jobs within a year, the Director of Architectural Services in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Mosunmade Odusanya, has said.
The ministry’s official spoke yesterday during an inspection of a project site at Onidundun village in Kilometre 17 on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Akinyele Local Government Area.
Those engaged include 13 contractors, 110 professionals, 3,832 skilled and unskilled labourers and 40 food vendor.
Others are: 55 suppliers, 35 block moulders and five security guards.
Odusanya, who is also the Project’s Team Leader, said the project was mainly to meet the state’s housing demand and address affordable home deficit in the land.
He noted that the project had attained 70 per cent completion with the expectation that the remaining 30m per cent would be achieved before end of the year.
The 72 units of flats consists 28 units of two-bedrooms, 20 units of three-bedrooms and 24 units of flats in the condominium on a 10-hectare land.
Odusanya said: “The total number of condominium in the vertical structure is the same number of total units spread around the bungalow. The essence of that is to arrest incessant building key collapse. So, that is why we are demonstrating these structures in the states to determine the factors that are responsible for unoccupied houses.
“The condominium will accommodate the physically challenged on the ground floor. There are ramps to support them.”
He assured the residents of the affordability of the project, saying the Federal Government would determine the modalities for its allocation after completion.
The Federal Controller, Mrs. Sarah Alawode, restated government’s commitment to addressing housing shortage in the country.
Alawode, who was represented by an Assistant Director in the ministry, Bola Adesanya, said the state government had approved additional 10 hectares of land for second phase of the project.
Alhaji Sulaiman Adegoke, a carpenter and Alfa Sikiru Orelope, a welder, were excited about the project.
They were among those who supplied planks and got iron fabrication jobs for the project.
The artisans called for urgent kick-off of the second phase.
One of the contractors, Mr. Olanrewaju Balogun, hailed the Federal Government for the project but appealed for timely release of funds to ensure prompt delivery of the project.
Balogun noted that 15 per cent threshold released for the project execution was insufficient, thus the need for the government to reconsider it.?
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