The Niger Government says it will remove obstacles hindering acquisition of land for the second phase of the National Housing Programme (NHP).
Mr Sani Lafiya, Director General, Projects Monitoring and Documentation, Governor’s Office, spoke during an inspection of the Minna NHP site, first phase by North Central Zonal Director, Mr Valentine Nwaimo.
Nwaimo was in the state in company of other top officials from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to assess the project.
The first phase of the NHP which is 70 percent completed is located at Three Arms Zone, Eastern Bypass Maitumbi, Minna, and consists of 80 housing units, out of which 64 units are completed.
It could be recalled that the Niger Government earlier in 2018 announced donation of 100 hectares for the construction of NHP second phase.
The director general said that the state government was currently discussing on how to resolve technicalities associated with securing another land for the second phase of NHP.
He stressed, “We wanted to give out 100 hectares but noticed it is no longer feasible. We held several meetings with relevant authorities including representatives from the ministry on how to readily make suitable land available for the project.”
He said though the state government has quite a number of lands, the locations were being put into consideration.
Lafiya said that the land allocated for the first phase was a master plan of a particular project of the state government but gave it out to the Federal Government because of its desire to bridge housing deficit.
Alhaji Musa Kanko, the Commissioner, Ministry of Lands and Housing, said the state government was committed to providing land for the second phase.
He said that NHP was an important agenda of the Federal Government which made the state to key into the programme to solve housing problems.
Mr Michael Ibegbu, Federal Controller of Housing, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, had urged the state government to hasten provision of land for the housing project.
Ibegbu said that government was desirous of commencing work on the second phase, as people had started signifying interest to occupy houses completed under the first phase. NAN
