PROPERTY TRANSACTION GUIDE

FHA plans new guidelines for partnership with private sector
By Akinpelu Dada

Punch, Monday, 16 Feb 2009

The Federal Housing Authority is working on new guidelines to regulate the activities of private sector operators wishing to partner with it.

The Acting Managing Director, FHA, Mr. Jube Jemide, who announced this in Abuja on Thursday, said a committee had been set up by the FHA management to prepare a draft of the new guidelines.

Jemide, on a visit to the site of the 240 housing units being built by FHA in Lugbe, Abuja, said the authority had received a large number of applications from prospective partners from within and outside the country and that the organisation was ready to explore the full potential of public-private partnership for accelerated housing delivery.

He expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work on the new estate and praised the contractors for their performance.

Jemide, according to a statement by his spokesman, Mr. Tunde Ipinmisho, said the authority decided to raise the standard of infrastructure at the Lugbe Extension site because it believed Nigerians, wherever they chose to live, should have the best facilities.

He urged residents of the estate and others in Lugbe, who were pressing for improvement of roads and water supply in the area to exercise patience as the gradual process of infrastructure upgrade in the estate had commenced.

Addressing the contractors working on the 240 housing units, Jemide said the FHA would insist on the highest quality of work attainable and urged them to employ tested professionals on their sites in order to be able to meet the requirements of the Authority.

He reiterated his earlier directive that all payments to the contractors be made through their designated bank accounts in line with the new government policy on e-payment and advised those yet to forward their bank details to the Authority to do so without further delay.

The FHA chief executive said the Authority intended to make the new Lugbe estate a showpiece of its new commitment to excellence in housing delivery and promised that contractors, who met the standard would continue to enjoy patronage.

He directed FHA supervisors on the site to insist on best practices from the contractors, adding that he was on the look out for commitment and professionalism among them.