Accra (Greater Accra), 11 Jan. ’99 – The Ghana Real Estates Development Association (GREDA) last night marked its 10th year of existence with an awards dinner night at which more than 25 deserving individuals and organisations were honoured. Prizes, including plaques and certificates, were presented to the winners in categories of Best Estate Developer, Most Promising Estate Developer, Outstanding Service and Founding Fathers of GREDA. Regimanuel Gray Estates Limited, Manet Housing Estates Limited and Tema Development Corporation won gold, silver and bronze plaques respectively in the Best Estate Developer category. For the Most Promising Estate Developer awards, Hydrofoam Estates, Coastal Estate Developers and Medium Dwelling Estates were each presented with a certificate. While the Founding Fathers category was mainly made up of individuals who helped in the growth of the Association. Awards for Outstanding Service mainly went to financial institutions including Merchant Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Home Finance Company and the Town and Country Planning Department. Mr Isaac Adjei-Mensah, Minister of Works and Housing, said experience has shown that compulsory acquisition of land for housing development leads to well planned cities and suburbs and pledged the ministry’s support for real estate developers in that regard. He said at the moment GREDA is able to meet 75 percent of the 110,000 annual demands for houses and promised the ministry’s readiness to intervene on behalf of estate developers in their quest for financial help, including mortgage finance from the banks. The Minister expressed concern about shoddy work undertaken by some members of the Association, leaving some of their buildings with cracked walls and poor electric installations. Mr Chris Torgbor-Mensah, GREDA President, noted that ‘road shows’ to countries like the US, South Africa and Europe have helped the Association greatly, and said they will be intensified in the coming years. He mentioned land acquisition as a major problem facing estate developers and called for the promulgation of a National Housing Policy to facilitate the smooth provision of houses.
