Naomi Gabriel
It is still baffling trying to come to grips with the knowledge that despite the number of housing policies formulated by the government in the past, the country is yet to hit the envisaged height expected. Maybe, the government has not done enough or it has not properly put into context, whether little or large, every thing that has to do with proper provision of affordable housing for all.
The number of unoccupied houses in most major cities in the country is alarming when the nation still has many that cannot afford a roof over their heads. This implies that the country might not have been threading the right path for long.
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Yes, the future may seem bright for the housing sector going by what we wrote in our previous article but, if rigorous measures are not brought in timely, the country may still see itself lagging behind when it comes to the provision of affordable housing by the time we complete the end of the present decade.
It is true that the housing sector requires long term plans for any project to be successfully engineered, it is a huge task that needs careful and sustained period of planning. However, the country we have today and the people that administers it, are they the type that are excellent in successfully executing long term plans? The answer may be best known to some of us.
We may have gotten a long term project proposed and in the process of execution by the government but, to better the lots of many generations unborn, the government today and more to come need to understand the importance of developing more housing policies that will look like succession of plans/policies that will be implemented successively till even the next 100 years.
This is how many countries have developed today, they depended and survived on long term plans. Housing policies are tools needed and used for environmental, town and housing plans for solving housing problems and we as a country should understand that not all problems require a short term fix. Therefore, the need for long term serious viable plans are paramount.
Majority of the populace live in indecent housing environments and this has not been a problem that began today. Many are living in appalling environments with very substandard houses, with no better infrastructures to make life meaningful.
Questions that have always been there to ask are, whether governments have not been making the right polices? Do these policies match with long term plans? Have the country created the right environments to make these policies fit in? Can the country boast of credible or excellent hands that can execute and implement these policies to a success? These are questions that commands urgent reactions from concerned authorities that mean well for future generations to come.
Maybe, some of the problems the housing industry has faced in the past and today could be poor administration in housing matters, difficulty in land access, lack of friendly mortgage and corruption. How urgent are the authorities looking into these?
Coming to conclusion and seeking for solutions to the country’s housing needs, the authorities should come up with more firm, viable short and long term housing policies that can fix the short and long term housing needs of the country especially, dwelling more on low cost housing. Those with the right minds should oversee these processes.
The government housing authorities should work with leaders, stakeholders and developers in the real estate sector to provide these low cost housing. They should make regulations that are friendly with the drive for estate developers to provide affordable housing for the populace. While doing so, it should not forget to see to the growth of our locally made housing products and services.
