From November 30, 2010, all persons occupying any of SSNIT’s two-bedroom housing units in any part of the country will have to cough out a staggering GH¢ 25, 000 or forfeit the property. It comes at a time when the government is making strenuous efforts to provide decent accommodation for the people and reduce the housing deficit currently facing the country. The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) said it decided to dispose off all the 782 housing units currently under rent to be able to “safeguard the trust’s investment in her real estate”. The trust is also citing “inflationary trend in the country in the past years” as another reason for the disposal of the properties. Signals picked by BUSINESS GUIDE indicate that the SSNIT board has given its approval for the management to compel tenants in those housing units to pay the hefty amount before November 30, 2010. A notice sighted by this paper headlined, ‘Notice Of Offer For Sale Of SSNIT Workers Housing Unit And Review of Sale Value’, confirming the decision to sell the houses, has already been sent to all occupants of the units. It was signed by Baffour Akoto on behalf of the Legal Services Manager and copied to the General Manager/IDD and Properties Manager respectively. The notice read, “Please be informed that due to inflationary trend in the country for the past years and the need to safeguard the trust’s investment in her real estate, it has become imperative for the existing sale prices of all SSNIT workers housing units in the country to be reviewed.” Consequently, the notice said the sale value of a two-bedroom flat allocated to tenants “has been reviewed upwards to GH¢ 25, 000 with effect from June 1, 2010”. It stated, “Kindly take further notice that SSNIT has decided not to rent its flats or housing units anymore and has decided to divest or dispose off its interest in the said units or facilities to prospective buyers interested in purchasing same. “Please note that this offer to you is valid up to November 30, 2010, after which SSNIT shall sell the facility to any interested buyer in the event of your failure to take it (the offer). The new owners of the flat will then decide whether to keep you as a tenant or not.” The notice also asked the tenants to note that “this sale is on outright purchase basis” but said “you have the option to arrange to pay either directly to SSNIT by Bankers Draft or take a mortgage with any of the country’s mortgage institutions or your bankers to finance payment of the facility. “In the event of your failure to take up any of the options, the trust reserves the right to sell the property to any interested party without further recourse to you after the expiry of the stipulated date. “Accordingly, you are by this letter given up to November 30, 2010 to vacate the premise/facility you occupy if you fail, refuse and/or neglect to take up this offer by due date.” In an interview with BUSINESS GUIDE in Accra last Monday, George A. Baafi, Properties Manager of SSNIT said “this decision has been in the public domain since the 1990s. The trust gave them ample time and every opportunity to take steps to buy the properties but they refused.” He said the trust is getting overwhelmed by the high cost of maintenance of the properties, explaining “the occupants want the trust to use people’s contributions to re-fix everything including water tanks, dislodging of septic tanks and even kitchen sinks.” Mr. Baafi stressed “we cannot hold the properties as long as the tenants are not ready to buy them and we still maintain them at higher cost.” Eva Amegashie, Head of Public Affairs stated “the tenants are not prepared to take up responsibility because the property belongs to the government”, adding “this is not the first time we are going to sell our properties. The greatest majority has already purchased their properties and we have approached this exercise with a human face.” Kwasi Adomako, also with the Properties Department, said SSNIT has succeeded in selling 6386 units, with only 782 left to be sold, adding that “some of our tenants even sublet SSNIT’s properties too.” Source: Business Guide/Ghana