Edo partners developers to erect 1,400 housing units

Edo Government says it will construct 1,400 housing units at Emotan Garden Estate in Benin, in collaboration with four development partners. The Managing Director, Edo State Development and Properties Corporation (ESDPC), Mr John John Zedoma, said the proposed housing units were intended to fill the housing shortage in the state. Zedoma spoke to newsmen at a brief ceremony to hand over the site to the four selected developers on Thursday in Benin. He said that the programme would deliver annually two-bedroom semi-detached, three-bedroom semi-detached, two-bedroom block of flats and four-bedroom duplex, among others. He said that the project was in line with Gov. Godwin Obaseki’s vision of providing affordable housing for citizens of Edo, in consonance with his “Make Edo Great Again” agenda. The ESDPC boss said that 68 of the units had been delivered, while 147 were being developed by the corporation. He further said that the four developers would provide 700 housing units altogether. He said that government was supposed to be an enabler for business to thrive and what the governor had decided to do was to open up the estate and partner with developers. “So, today we are partnering with four developers that we have handed over the sub-section of the estate to develop. “We have WTF Construction, Landsmith Construction, D’Prince Builders and Ivy League Limited. “The estate is on 70 hectares and it is fenced round for security. “We have Osiomo electricity and water already to be reticulated to the whole estate, which is a modern and sustainable environment. “In estimation, there is going to be 1,400 housing units in the estate. “We already have over 200 units and we are going to add between 600 and 700 to the existing ones,” he said. Speaking on behalf of the developers, the Chief Executive Officer, WTF Construction, Dr Nosa Omere, whose firm is to deliver 240 units, said the project would be done according to specification. (NAN)