Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
Five abandoned housing estates owned by the Ogun State government will be completed soon and allocated to the residents.
The State Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Akande Omoniyi, made this known on Monday, while chatting with journalists in his office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Omoniyi said the estates located at Ayetoro, Ikenne, Ago- Iwoye, Ijebu-Igbo and Ota, had been built over the years, noting the housing estates would be given a face-lift to allow residents have access to decent housing.
‘’This ministry has decided to renovate the existing housing estates built by the previous administrations, which are yet to be occupied by people, and we are willing to give it a new look, so that residents who have signified interest in occupying the estates can do so’’, he added.
The Commissioner further said that the state government would not relent in providing affordable housing for the people, declaring that “all is set on the implementation of the 10,000 Federal Government Social Housing Scheme, among other housing policies of the government”.
He, however, commended the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, for his determination to close the housing gap by embarking on housing projects across the state.
Omoniyi added that the housing projects scheduled to be completed this year would help in making affordable housing available to residents of the state.
He noted that the state government was not just providing affordable houses to the people, but also creating employment through the engagement of artisans, saying “about 5,000 artisans have been engaged for the various categories of housing projects currently going in Ogun”.
On the 10,000 housing units targetted by the Federal Government in the state under the Social Housing Scheme, the commissioner disclosed that the state government would tap ino the mortgage options provided by the Gateway Mortgage Bank, in order to successfully deliver the scheme.