GhIE President calls for gov't focus on policy and affordability in housing

Ghanaian

During his 52nd Presidential Address at the Ghana Shippers Authority, Ing. Kwabena Bempong, the President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), emphasised that the government's primary role is not to construct houses but to establish policies and a suitable institutional framework.

He highlighted the government's responsibility to provide access to affordable lands, financing, building materials, and basic infrastructure.



Read full article/> Ing. Bempong stressed the importance of pursuing social housing to ensure affordability for low-income workers. He pointed out that with increasing construction costs and rapid urbanization, the current housing market predominantly serves affluent individuals, leaving those in the low to medium-income bracket struggling to find suitable housing.

Citing the affordability threshold where housing costs should not exceed 30% of a household's income, Ing. Bempong noted that Ghana heavily relies on imported building materials, subject to global economic trends.

He proposed a shift towards affordable and sustainable building materials, including bio-based options like timber and bamboo, as well as improvements on non-renewable materials such as green cement and natural pozzolans.

Additionally, Ing. Bempong recommended alternative building technologies like Rammed Earth Building, Interlocking Bricks Construction, Reinforced Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Foam Building System, Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum, and Light Gauge Steel Framed Structures (LGFS) to address housing challenges.

The event was attended by various dignitaries, including the wife of the GhIE President, ACP Priscilla Bempong; GhIE Vice-President, Ing. Sophia Abena Tijani; President-Elect of GhIE, Ing. Ludwig Hesse; and other notable figures in the engineering field. The ceremony focused on fostering discussions about effective housing policies and solutions to make housing more accessible to a wider segment of the population.