The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has threatened to revoke its partnership with developers who fail to deliver contracted housing projects on time.
The Managing Director of the agency, Oyetunde Ojo, sounded this warning when he inspected the FHA housing project at Ajoda, Ibadan.
The over 1,000-unit Ajoda project, which spans over 50 hectares, was incorporated four years ago through a private-public partnership and entrusted to six developers with a mandate to complete the project within a specified timeframe.
Addressing newsmen while on the site for inspection, the FHA boss expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done, saying only one partner out of six was able to deliver at a satisfactory level.
He warned developers using inflation as an excuse for project delays that they may face severe consequences, which include the withdrawal of their contract with the federal government as developers.
He said: “Concerning this project, our level of satisfaction is about 20 to 25 per cent as, out of six partners, only the partner in charge of lots 4 and 5 has actually worked to satisfaction.”
“We should also be very careful of one thing; we knew when inflation started. This was a project with a mandate to deliver in four years. It is a public-private partnership, and that is why I said we would not tolerate land speculators or property speculators.
“If you have given somebody four years to deliver and he can’t deliver, there is no reason that we can’t revoke; it is a straight deal in partnership. We would be forced to revoke. We can’t waste time. Housing is a serious business.”
Speaking further, Ojo was assured of the federal government’s commitment to delivering affordable homes.
“My message to subscribers is that they know the standard of FHA; we deliver affordable quality; the word quality is critically key; it is not just building a house.
“What we want to tell our subscribers in FHA is to be assured of quality, satisfaction, and value for your money because you would provide security, you would provide infrastructure in our facilities, and we would make sure you enjoy all these values for your money,” he added.
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