NAN-AE-2
MoU
By Muhammad Nasir
Dutse, Oct. 17, 2016 (NAN) Jigawa Government and Vetek Nig. Ltd., a private estate developer, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build 2,000 units of affordable houses in Dutse, the state capital.
The state Head of Civil Service (HoS), Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa, who signed the MoU on behalf of the state government, said that 500 hectares of land was already approved by the government for the project.
Inuwa said that the gesture was part of efforts by the administration to address housing deficit among civil servants in the state.
“Government alone cannot provide accommodation for all its civil servants. For instance, since the creation of this state, only 40,000 houses had been provided by the different governments.
“That is why this government is keen to partner private investors to put the state in proper perspective.
“That is why private investors have to be invited and the government will continue to open its doors to welcome the private-sector in housing delivery to reduce the deficit,’’ he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of the firm, Mr Simon Imen, said that the houses would be built for low and middle-income earners– who constitute majority of the labour force.
Imen said that the housing complex, made up of two and four bedroom apartments, would be provided with school, clinic, water, electricity, shopping mall and mechanic village.
He said the houses would be given to civil servants at eighty per cent discount, adding that the firm intended recouping its investment through services it would continue to render after the completion of the estate.
“We will give out the houses with eighty per cent discount, but we intend to recoup our money through the essential services we intend to provide in the area.
“Such services we intend to provide are school, clinic, water, electricity, shopping mall and a mechanic village, all these are necessary in our lives,” he said.
In his remark, the state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Usman Yau, thanked the Jigawa government and the company for the gesture, pointing out that it would go a long way in addressing the accommodation challenges of civil servants.
He also assured the firm that civil servants would occupy all the houses on completion. (NAN)
MNB/IS/BOS
========
Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz