“We know our office is going to be working to provide those things because it is in the pipeline and I know that we will get them soon. We can project that each building will be constructed for a 150-day period”. -Gyude Allison, Deputy Managing Director for Technical Services
Willie N. Tokpah/0777039231/0888140438
Brewerville, Montserrado County-The National Housing Authority in Liberia has embarked on construction work of housing units following the completion of two other units in Brewerville, Montserrado County now turning one of the biggest displaced camps during the Liberian civil war into a modern housing estate.
The construction work is phase three of a National Social Security and Welfare Corporation (NASSCORP) Village project currently being carried out in Jah Tondo Town, a place that was occupied by a group of displaced Liberians during the 2003 civil unrest.
Seventy additional houses will be constructed to boost government development plan for the provision of affordable houses across the country, the largest housing unit being erected so far at Jah Tondo Town, an official of NHA told FrontPageAfrica Thursday.
The construction work is being undertaken by 10 contractor companies, NHA explained.
The 10 companies hired by the NHA are reportedly Liberian owned but Gyude Allison, Deputy Managing Director for Technical Services at NHA did not state whether all of the 135 workers are Liberians, saying the number of workers show a job creation.
The construction of the units is being supported by NASSCORP.
The Deputy Managing Director told FrontPageAfrica that phase three of the Housing unit is comprised of three houses each as pairs that will include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a front and back porch.
The 70 units according to him will be constructed on approximately 18 acres of land of the total 50 acres that NASSCORP has purchased so far for its housing unit project, thereby making it a total of approximately 35 acres of land, NHA Technical Boss continued.
“Now we have various sizes of houses here, each with different prizes. Some cost around US$16-18 Thousand each, while others are prized at US$31 Thousand”, said Mr. Allison.
He stated that the total cost of phase three of the housing unit has not been derived due to diverse figures coming from various contractors working at the site.
Allison complained of serious challenges facing phase three of the construction work as a result serious downpour of rain coupled with lack of necessary equipment to monitor the project smoothly.
“We know our office is going to be working to provide those things because it is in the pipeline and I know that we will get them soon. We can project that each building will be constructed for a 150-day period”, stated Allison.
He however expressed delight over the initiative supported by NASSCORP, stating, that structures at the Brewerville site can clearly serve as a gateway for additional funding to be provided the National Housing Authority.
At the same time, Allison has clarified that the NHA has already secured an area for the construction of a police depot at the NASSCORP Village in Brewerville, since according to him; the security of citizens is of concern.
“It is not the mandate of NHA to build school; it is the mandate of the Ministry of Education to build school nevertheless, in our planning, since this is going to be holistic process of building an environment for residents. We take it into consideration and make our people allocate land” the NHA Deputy Managing Director responded to a FPA inquiry about the need for education facility at the village.
He noted that there is also a space allocated for clinic, since the social need of people who will be occupying the units are enormous.
Meanwhile, Allison has disclosed that there already exist a power supply system at the site to provide electricity for the actual numbers of houses that had been projected, encouraging Liberians to take advantage of the houses.