By Yinka  Kolawole
Abia State government has unfolded plans to ensure development of houses across the state and indicated readiness to partner with credible private investors.

Special Assistant to Abia State Governor on Housing, Mr. Nwabueze Owuneme, who disclosed this, said special consideration would be given to property investors with proven track record, adding that property market in the state is vibrant with effective demand.

He assured that whatever structure investors developed would be easily mopped up. “The 48 detached and semi-detached homes in Amaokpe estate (Adelabu estate) by NITEL sold for about N15.5 million and were over-subscribed. We got over 300 applications from people willing to pay outright. It was a good buy if you check the cost of the building and that of the land,” he said.

Owuneme said that government was talking with a firm to build solid three bedroom houses that would be sold for not more than N5 million with all the modern facilities, explaining that there is a ready market. “In other parts of the world, housing is not left to the government. That is why as we are acquiring our land and building, if any investor is willing and ready they can come in and build, even if it is just 50 housing units in the first instance.”

He said the government’s housing initiative would be directed at civil and public servants, as first-line recipients and that they would be encouraged to take out mortgage facility to enable them purchase these homes. “We are targeting civil servants and other people living in Abia to buy and we want to make it easy for them.

If you are qualified to get a mortgage and as long as you are an Abian and even if you are not an Abian. It is not a cash and carry thing. There are 30 housing units being constructed on the site which is prepared to hold 200 housing units for low income earners.”

According to him, the state government is keen at working with only private developers with integrity, noting that the first developer engaged in housing development by the present administration performed below expectation.

“The first thing His Excellency did was to carry out a human capital development census of housing deficit in Abia State and it came up the fact that we have to build 300,000 housing units for the people. The first private developer to partner with the government did not take the buildings up to DPC level and the government had to employ direct labour to complete them.

If Public, Private Partnerships (PPPs) were working for us, then by now we would have built over a thousand housing units. We still intend to achieve this feat but the governor said we will not build houses for the sake of it but that as we build, people would inhabit them,” he stated.

Owuneme said the estates the government is developing as well as those to be built by any investor would have excellent infrastructure, including access roads, water and electricity from the state’s independent power project.

He said the new Umuahia City, located about five or seven minutes’ drive from the city centre is also being upgraded into a modern community complete with a master-design that would include sophisticated malls, recreational parks, and housing estates.