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Tag: FHA

  • Workers, FHA management disagree over promotion, staff welfare

    Workers, FHA management disagree over promotion, staff welfare

    Staff of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) under the auspices if the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies has began a three day warning strike over what they described as refusal of the management of the establishment to effect the promotion of deserving workers since 2011 and implementing policies that are anti workers.

    But the management of the establishment said there was no basis for the strike action as the demands by the workers have been largely met, while the remaining potion of their demand require ministerial approval which it is waiting to secure.

    Addressing newsmen at the commencement of the action in Abuja, General Secretary of the Union, Comrade Ayo Olorunfemi said the workers had no other choice but to embark on the warning strike after series of notices to the management without sincere response.

    He accused the management of refusing to conduct promotion exercise since 2011 for deserving officers, adding that a lot of officers of the agency who retired from service have been  because of the stagnation created in the system.

    The union also accused government of deliberately denying workers in the agency from rising above certain level, while using allocating positions that should be occupied by career civil servants to political appointees, pointing out that retired workers of the agency have been employed to fill positions that should be occupied by those in service.

    They also accused the management of non payment of outstanding housing allowances to staff on grade levels 14 and above, refusal to remit statutory deductions from the salary of staff to the National Health Insurance Scheme and the National Housing Fund thereby denying them access to health care and housing.

    He also said that the management of the agency has also not remitted tax deductions from workers salaries to the appropriate agency of government thereby denying them tax clearance.

    Reacting to the allegations, Managing Director of the FHA, Prof. Mohammed Al-Amin said the agency has set in motion machinery to ensure that the position of a General Manager is occupied by civil servants and not political appointees.

    He explained that the reposition of the agency before his assumption of office removed it from government budget and slated it for privatization, adding that on assumption of office, he advices the government against outright sale of the place.

  • PTAD advises FHA, Delta Steel pensioners on verification

    PTAD advises FHA, Delta Steel pensioners on verification

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has urged the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and Delta Steel Company (DSC) pensioners to partake in the ongoing verification  in Lagos, Abuja and Delta State.

    The exercise is billed to end at the Lagos Centre today. The Delta Centre ends on Tuesday.

    The event, which started on Monday, is to enable it review the captured data to identify genuine pensioners, compute into the system and ascertain pension entitlements for payments.

    Its Executive Secretary, Mrs. Sharon Ikeazor represented by the Assistant Director, Pension Admin, PTAD, Jibrin Idris made this known during the verification exercise in Lagos yesterday.

    He however said the turnout in Lagos for the exercise was not impressive, but he is optimistic that more people would show up before the end of the exercise.

    He said the essence of the verification is to identify genuine retirees of the two agencies, which are FHA and DSC, stressing that in the last verification, pensioners of NICON Insurance; New Nigeria Newspapers and Nigeria Reinsurance were verified.

  • CSO writes IGP, Idris, seeks FHA Managing Director’s resignation

    CSO writes IGP, Idris, seeks FHA Managing Director’s resignation

     

    A civil society group, Citizens without Border has written a letter to the inspector general of police, Ibrahim Idris for an approval to embark on a nation wide protests to press for the resignation of the managing director Federal Housing authority, Professor Muhammad Al-Amin from office.

    This the group said was caused by prolonged and protracted illness of the managing director which has affected the smooth running of the organization since he took over.

    Our correspondent gathered the demand was sequel to a notification letter sent to the honourable minister o f works, housing and power which was signed by the groups executive director Mr Daniel Iwen a copy of which was sent to our correspondent.

    The group further alleged that they have in their custody enough evidence to show that Al-Amin is incapacitated.

    All efforts to reach the public relations officer of the Federal Housing Authority have failed.

    In an interactive session with the group spokesman, he said the group have already officially copied the managing director federal Housing authority on the planned protest to save the board.

  • FHA, firm to develop FESTAC Phase II

    The New FESTAC Property Development Company Limited (NFPDCL), in conjunction with the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Southwest Zone, have partnered to develop the FASTAC Phase 2 Project in FESTAC Town, Lagos.

    The firm’s Executive Vice Chairman, Sir Isaac Chuks, said the FESTAC Phase 2 project has a land mass of 1,126 hectares, which was part of the 2, 040 hectares of  the entire land of FESTAC Town.

    He explained that the project, on completion, will be home to about 350,000 people, a feat he said would be a fantastic help to Lagos in view of the housing deficit gap in the state.

    “The city will be unique because of its proximity to the rail projects from Badagry, there will also be a road linking it from Ikeja airport, a kindergarten and secondary schools will be established, including a proposed university, which will afford children to start and complete their educational career within the city.  In the area of security, everywhere will be censored with cameras and independent power supply. There are also partners that have indicated their interest to establish a world class shopping mall and a world class hospital in the new city,” he explained.

    While assuring that the firm has done all the necessary groundwork to kickstart the project, including taking care of the issue of the land grabbers (Omo onile), Chuks revealed that the major off-takers are groups coming from South Africa, Egypt, United Kingdom and China, among other countries. These foreign investors, he explained, will buy and develop the land, just as a German and Swiss firms have also indicated interest in building Disney Island, on more than 40 hectares of land space within the city.

    The company secretary, Ajumogobia & Okeke, a firm of legal practitioners, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, described the project as “a mixed development,” in a new city concept, which he said is comparable to EKO Atlantic City in Victoria Island axis of Lagos.

    Ajumogobia, a former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said the timing for the project was very perfect because of the new Badagry Express Way being built, which he said would open up the area.

    The marketing consultant to the project, and founding partner/consultant, M.I. Okoro and Associates, an Estate management firm, Mr. Meckson Okoro, said: “The only way we can engage the Artisans is when the government encourages massive investment in housing development, because housing development ensures that all kind of skill and unskilled labours are fully engaged. He expressed optimism that by the time the project is completed, it has have a good return on investment.”

    The president of BETONIQ JV Nigeria Ltd, one of the companies providing the technical support for the project, Air vice Marshal (retrd) Monday Morgan, is of the opinion that it is a good one because it will reduce the number of housing deficit in the country and  be a way of making their own contribution to the development of Nigeria.

    He said any technology that is used to give houses to Nigerians, but which does not attract employment for the youth, is problematic. This, he said, is a reason to support project as it will also ensure the menace of youth unemployment in the country is tackled given the number of youths it will employ. Morgan explained that the firm’s German partners in Germany will support the project by injecting 80 percent of required funding.

    BETONIQ JV Nigeria Ltd Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Teun van Sambeek, said his company was bringing to Africa for the first time, a technology used in Asia, Russia and Thailand. Still, he said the company will be providing materials for the building and infrastructure.

  • Gemade: Senate ’ll review FMBN, FHA laws

    Gemade: Senate ’ll review FMBN, FHA laws

    The Senate is to review the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) laws to enable Nigerians benefit from some affordable housing schemes, its Housing Committee Chairman,   Senator Barnabas Gemade, has said.

    Gemade, who spoke at a ceremony in Abuja, to commemo-rate the partnership between the FHA and a private developer, Bauhaus International Limited (BIL), said the deal would lead to the construction of Rockville Garden Estate, comprising 260 housing units in Guzape in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The estate, said   to be a smart city, will be made up of detached duplexes, twin duplexes, terrace houses, two bedrooms, and  one bedroom luxury apartments. The project has a completion period of 30 months.

    He said: “This noble gesture is aimed at housing at least 260 families and is by no means a small feat considering the economic, business environment and current acute shortage of funds.” He stressed the importance of the National Assembly working in partnership with stakeholders to explore different interventions and bridge the housing gap at all levels and build more than 10 million housing units in the country.

    Also speaking, the FHA Managing Director, Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, said the Authority intends to achieve greater efficiency in housing delivery, encourage the use of modern technology, as well as the  injection of private sector funding into the sector.

    He said the project was planned to add a minimum of 1,500 housing units to the FCT housing stock. It sits on a portion of the FHA’s 100 hectares of land situated across two districts of Apo and Guzape. The land was acquired for housing development for the medium and high income groups.

    Al-Amin expressed the hope that on completion, the estate would provide a safe, comfortable, attractive and functional shelter, utilising the ambient terrain and a functional neighbourhood. He said  the FHA has developed not less than 15,000 housing units in the FCT since 1991. FHA, he further revealed, initiated the private, public partnership model of housing delivery following its lean financial muscle to deliver on her mandate was limited.

    The Executive Chairman of BIL, Victor Onukwugha, remarked that housing all over the world has become a hydra-headed socio-economic problem that needs to be tackled frontally. He therefore assured that Rockville Gardens Estate will be fitted with smart technology-sensors embedded in streets and homes, Wi-Fi broadcasts and other information and communication technologies for lifestyle living and also provide serenity, and security for its residents.

  • FHA inaugurates revenue teams

    FHA inaugurates revenue teams

     •Issues N600m demand notice

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) has inaugurated new revenue teams for Gwarinpa, Lugbe, Kubwa and Karu housing estates in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Southwest Zonal Office in Lagos.

    The teams, which took off early this month, were set up, following the non-performance of the previous ones.

    FHA’s Managing Director, Professor Mohammed Al-Amin, explained that the teams were set up to enable the Authority generate more revenue to enable it meet up with its commitments of about N1 billion between this month and next January.

    The FHA chief, in a document obtained by The Nation, said the  team members were appointed based on merit, integrity and track record of performance, urging them to justify the confidence reposed in them by Management.

    He promised to provide the committees with logistics, adding that they steer clear of controversy.

    Al-Amin promised that funds would be released for roads repairs and other infrastructure in Lugbe Estate to enable the team get the co-operation of allottees and residents of the estate. He urged them to pay attention to alterations, change of use and other abuses in the estates.

    The Authority’s Business Development Executive Director, Mr. Aniedi Akpabio, charged the team members that the Management would be expecting positive reports from them as soon as posible.

    Its Housing Finance, Accounts and Corporate Services Executive Director, Mrs. Nkechi Nwazota, said the members should send reports of their challenges and progress to the Managemnent of FHA.

    Many of the team members complained of the tenement rates the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) collects from estates’residents and the fees collected by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA).

    Meanwhile, the Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja Revenue Team has sent out demand notices worth N627 million.

    Its Leader, Comfort Ayeni, said the bills were for use charges and ground rents. Also, she said, bills of about N577 million had been despatched to property owners on change of use while about N105 million ground rent charges had been served on 105 units of Abriba duplexes in the estate.

    She said the team was concentrating on the seven avenues in the estate and would move to the inner streets later.

    In her report to the FHA, Ayeni explained that the major challenge the team has encountered so far were the multiple charges allegedly levied against allottees by the AMAC, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) and other agencies of the FCDA.

    She said though the FHA had got approval to collect Change of Use Charges since 2012, many of the allottees claimed to have been told by the FCDA that they had taken over the responsibility for such collection from the Authority.

    The Team Leader said there was the need to sensitise staff on the revenue drive, adding that they had experienced stiff opposition  from some of the Authority’s workers.

    She said her team would need more hands, security and logistics  to succeed in its assignment, urging the Authority to map out the means of ensuring prompt payment by allottees who had been served with demand notices.

  • Senate panel to fast-track FHA’s restructuring

    Senate panel to fast-track FHA’s restructuring

    The Senate Committee on Housing has promised to work with relevant agencies to fast-track the restructuring and commercialisation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

    Its Chairman, Senator Barnabas Gemade, made this known in Abuja when he led his colleagues on an oversight visit to the Authority’s headquarters.

    He said urgent legislative action was required to fast-track the reform and commercialisation of the FHA which had been on-going since 1992.

    He said the planned amendment would strengthen the Authority and return it to its pride of place as an effective national instrument for housing delivery.

    The lawmaker, who was accompanied by four of his colleagues, noted that the fortunes of the FHA has been adversely affected by somersaults in government’s policy. He said the removal of the FHA from government funding had stacked the odds against the agency and affected its ability to deliver on its mandate.

    To strengthen the FHA, Gemade promised that his committee would explore the possibility of its benefitting from the Central Bank’s N30 billion Real Estate Development Intervention Fund. To this end, he directed the Authority’s Managing Director, Prof. Mohammed Al-Amin, to furnish his committee with a list of all its completed and on-going housing projects, including partnership projects, loan portfolio, and nominal roll.

    During a visit to the FHA/ENL Paradise Hills Estate, Apo, Abuja, Gemade expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done on the houses.

    He said FHA demonstrated a high level of professional competence in delivering quality houses for medium and high income earners and urged it to brace up to build houses for millions of the nation’s low  income earners.

    Al-Amin said there was need to strengthen the Authority’s ability to deliver on its social housing mandate through special subventions and regular budgetary allocation.

    He appealed to the committee to hasten work on the amendment of the law establishing it. He said the FHA depended solely on public- private partnerships to deliver houses since the government funding for it stopped.

  • FHA, UN-HABITAT, others to partner on national housing

    FHA, UN-HABITAT, others to partner on national housing

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is to work with other agencies on the development of a national housing profile for the country.

    Its Managing Director, Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, made this known during a visit to the UN-HABITAT Programme Office in Abuja, where he received by its Programme Officer, Mr. Kabir Yari.

    According to him, the initiative has become necessary because of the unreliability of the country’s housing statistics.

    Al-Amin noted that though an attempt was made to incorporate a housing census into the 2006 national headcount, the data obtained from the exercise was unreliable. That failure, he said, was due to the defective nature of the tool designed for it. For instance, enumerators were only trained on how to capture data on individuals and not housing units.

    He noted that the lack of reliable housing data had armstrung proper planning and called for concerted efforts to address the situation.

    The FHA chief, however, expressed doubt about the authenticity of the 17 million housing deficit figure being bandied in various quarters, saying such figure has not been proven. The FHA, he explained, is in touch with the National Population Commission (NPC), which he disclosed has indicated that it would embark on a proper housing count during the next population census. He, therefore, urged the UN-HABITAT to make its expertise available to ensure the success of the exercise.

    Al-Amin said the FHA was keen to participate in the implementation of the resolutions of the just concluded Habitat III- the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development held in Quito, Ecuador.

    Expressing regret that Nigeria had not been taking advantage of platforms opened to it by international organisations, he said FHA was poised to participate in the follow-up to Habitat III at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

    He said FHA was also eager to work with the United Nations’ agency on critical housing issues, such as slum development and the rising housing deficit in the country to improve the quality of urban life.

    Yari noted that the UN-HABITAT had helped many nations to develop their housing policies but expressed regret that monitoring and implementation had been the bane of policies in Nigeria.

    He said a nation should, with available statistics to project into how many houses it would need for its populace in the short, medium and long term.

    He said his agency and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had projected that the global population of urban dwellers would rise to three billion by 2050.

    In view of that projection, he said it was important for policy makers to be on guard to ensure the availability of adequate waste disposal facilities and sustainable use of resources. Yari noted that low income earners who formed the bulk of the housing need base got their housing mostly from the informal sector, adding that he was  characterised by acute lack of infrastructure.

    He said if nations could get it right with pro-poor housing, they would reach the majority of those who needed housing.

    Yari, who pointed out that the UN-HABITAT was not a funding agency, promised to provide technical assistance to the FHA in the execution of its programmes.

  • Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA

    Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA

    Power, Works and Housing Minister Mr. Babatunde Fashola has set up an ad-hoc committee to review the re-structuring and commercialisation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

    Fashola urged the committee to review the FHA Restructuring and Commercialisation/Housing Sector implementation Framework presented to him at a meeting with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    BPE’s Director of National Facilities and Agricultural Resources Mr. Yunana Jackdell Malo, in the letter convening the committee meeting, said the panel would entertain concerns, issues and recommendations which might form the basis of a revised implementation framework for FHA’s restructuring and commercialisation.

    A document obtained by The Nation listed the committee’s terms of reference to include: distilling the new reform vision for the housing sector as articulated by the Minister; review the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved implementation framework to better align it with the minister’s policy direction and objectives for the housing sector; review aspects of the various work streams in the implementation framework to ensure that they are fit for purpose and revisit key elements of the restructuring and commercialisation strategy,  and to make recommendations on how they could be better implemented, particularly with regards to new housing policy and skills mix, property audit and the privatisation of FHA Mortgage Bank.

    Others include reviewing the possibility of implementing the NCP approved strategy without necessarily repealing the FHA Act and be guided by legal advice in that regard; review the relevant aspects of the on-going housing sector reforms and make necessary recommendations, particularly with respect to the setting up of a regulatory regime and how FHA can play an effective role in a regulated and liberalised housing sector.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Abu Gusau Magaji, has urged FHA workers not to entertain fears of losing their jobs.

    Speaking at a meeting with the Authority’s management, he explained that rather than job losses, the planned process would throw up more vacancies through the expected expansion of the Authority’s capacity to become an efficient, modern and profitable venture.

    Magaji said the need for a review of the previous reform document generated by the BPE arose because it had become necessary to align it with the vision and policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for the sector.

    He said the exercise would be conducted on the basis of existing presidential approval, adding that both the Ministry and the Authority were being accommodated in the development of work streams that would lead to the emergence of a new FHA.

    Members of the committee are Yunana J. Malo – Sector Director/Co-ordinator (BPE); M. L. Halilu; A. Koko, and P. O Egbodo, all representing the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The FHA is represented by Ayuba Aliyu, Hajara Kadiri, and Umar S. Gonto.  Sanusi Abdu-Ali, Nurain Hassan Ibrahim, Pene Samaki, and Guful John Mankilik, are representatives of the BPE. Abba Sani Dauda, also from the BPE, will serve as Secretary.

  • FHA, FCDA to float development control agency

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) and the Department of Development Control (DDC), Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) are to set up an inter-agency committee to guide development control in FHA estates in Abuja.

    The FHA will develop the framework for the operation of the committee and send it to the DDC for its input and rectification.

    These were some of the decisions taken at a meeting between the FHA management and the department in Abuja.

    FHA  Managing Director Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, told the visiting DDC acting Managing Director Alhaji Hamza Tayyab, that the authority has seen some vibrancy in development control activities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He said the FHA would support the FCT Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, in his quest to bequeath, a model city to the FCT that would make all Nigerians proud. The authority, Al-Amin said, would work on attaining  excellence in its business, adding that the agency had a strong promising to meet the expectations of FHA’s partners in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). FHA, he said, would stop any contravention brought to its notice, stating that it is important to resolve outstanding matters  amicably.

    On assumption of office, Al-Amin said, he ordered a study on the development of the authority’s Gwarinpa Estate in Abuja, adding that the exercise turned out disturbing revelations.  The report, according to him, showed that rather than the standard 20 per cent of the estate left as green area, only five per cent was. In addition, he said the report warned that with climate change on the rise, the estate stood the risk of flooding because of allocations across water channels and flood areas.

    The FHA boss said he had stopped such allocations and was exploring ways to relocate those already made. He said the authority was worried about the spate of illegal conversion of residential buildings into commercial use, its management. He said had considered converting three of the avenues in the estate into commercial boulevards, but the Urban and Regional Department of the FCDA resisted the move because it considered it a breach of the master plan of the estate.

    Tayyab said his team was at FHA because it considered it a strategic partner in the development of the FCT. He explained that the new FCT Minister had a vision of what the Territory should be and that all stakeholders owed it duty to achieve the vision.

    He said the minister was against the granting of building approvals on flood plains, green areas and on the hills of Abuja but said his agency had noticed contraventions in some FHA allocations such as on Maitama Hill where there is no access and which ought to be preserved.

    He said similar breach was noticed in Apo and Gwarinpa Estate, especially where he said residential buildings were being flagrantly converted to commercial use and approvals were granted for buildings along flood plains.

    Tayyab said his agency was aware of the FHA’s lack of capacity in equipment and manpower and promised that his department was ready to synergise with the FHA to facilitate the development of a city of everybody’s dreams.