NCDC keen on providing affordable housing

THE National Capital District Commission is working on a mechanism to make affordable housing possible for city residents, Governor Powes Parkop says.
“Once the mechanism is ready, we will submit to the Minister for Housing and he will present it to NEC, brief the prime minister,” he said.
He said the aim was to get the government and stakeholders to address some of the impediments that contributed to the hike in house prices.
Parkop said this in light of the recent signing between NCDC and International Finance Corporation (IFC) of a housing plot project to be constructed at Saraga, 6-Mile, in Port Moresby.
IFC is a member of the World Bank Group.
Parkop said the State and City Hall could work with service providers such as PNG Power, Eda Ranu and an investor to develop housing estates at affordable prices.
“We (NCDC) can build roads and access, PNG Power can set up the power supply while Eda Ranu does the water and sewerage and a developer can build the houses,” he said.
“We can recover our investments and the tenant or the home buyer will only pay for the cost of the material and the construction, that is one way where we can reduce unit cost.”
Parkop said another way to achieve the aim of providing affordable housing was for the government to incentivise the industry by reducing import tax on some building materials, cement or timber and materials.