NHC gives assets to provinces

 NATIONAL Housing Corporation land and properties in the provinces will be transferred to all provincial governments after the NHC’s nationwide verification, validation and valuation exercise is completed, acting managing director John Dege says.
After the transfer, he said the assets would become institutional properties, which would help to alleviate the shortage of housing for public servants in the provinces.
“All our land and properties in the provinces will be transferred to the provincial governments to manage and maintain after the verification, validation and valuation exercises are completed in each
province. These assets will become institutional properties to help alleviate the critical shortage of government housing in all provinces,” he said.
Dege said the exercise was aimed at securing the corporation’s assets in all provinces and to enable the Government to roll out its programme to build 10 houses in every district.
He added that the district housing programme would be administered separately by the National Planning Department.
He said the estimated value of the corporation’s assets in each province, excluding the National Capital District, was about K20 million.
Dege said this after signing an agreement with East Sepik Governor Sir Michael Somare last Friday in Wewak to undertake the exercise in the province.
He said the NHC exercise had been completed in Gulf, Western and Madang with West Sepik to follow after East Sepik.
Sir Michael presented Dege with K1 million funding assistance and a new four-wheel drive vehicle for NHC officers to travel to the districts to carry out their work.
Dege thanked Sir Michael for assisting in funding the exercise and assured him that NHC land and properties in East Sepik would be transferred to the provincial government after all process were completed.
Sir Michael commended Dege for his initiatives in revamping the ailing corporation, which had been dogged by management and financial problems for the past two decades.