NCDC signs landmark affordable housing deal

Governor Parkop putting the ink on the agreement in Fiji's Nadi in front of Thomas Jacobs who is the country manager for PNG and the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

By JOE GURINA

PORT Moresby city residents in the nation’s capital will enjoy a transition of accessing large scale affordable housing targeted for low and middle income families.

This is made possible through a land mark singing between the National Capital District Commission and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group on Thursday in Port Moresby.

At the signing, NCDC Governor Powes Parkop said it is a project tied in partnership with the IFC to ease the growth of informal settlements. Parkop initially signed the agreement in Fiji infront of Thomas Jacobs who is the country manager for PNG and the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

According to government statistics, over 45 percent of the 370, 000 residents of Port Moresby live in informal settlements without security of title or access to basic infrastructure, such as water, sanitation and power.

“The project will target both low and middle income-earners through a mix of single unit family dwellings and affordable flats. We need to encourage greater housing density in a way that is culturally appropriate, and with adequate amenities for people,’’ Parkop said.

He said the pilot project will complement other measures that we are now undertaking to tackle Port Moresby’s housing crisis.

“Nearly 48-50 percent is unplanned settlements. And I have been trying during my tenure upgrading settlements into suburbs. I can’t rest as the Governor of the city and I am determined to put an end to settlements in the city with the project initiated with partnership with IFC,’’ Parkop said.

He said past governments have tried a lot of different strategies to increase the amount of affordable housing on the market, but the need just continues to grow.

He said the new Housing Minister Justin Tkatchenko has suggested that it was time for the government to look at new approaches in the housing sector.

Parkop said through this pilot project, IFC will help open up the market for green, climate-resilient affordable housing by drawing on the resources and expertise in the private sector.

IFC Public Private Partnership Coordinator Lazarus Kenni thanked NCDC to come on board with the partnership arrangement to address housing crisis in the city.

He said it is important to look for solutions to overcrowding in informal settlements since PNG is one of the fastest growing populations in the world whilst addressing the issue was of great resolutions.