r Enoch Teye Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Work and Housing, has said the Real Estate Agency Bill is now ready and currently before the Attorney General’s Department for the final review.
Mr Mensah announced this on Friday during a sod cutting ceremony for the construction of 5,000 housing at Kpone near Tema by Sethi Realty.
He said the purpose of the Bill is to regulate real estate brokerage practice and practitioners in the country and to bring it to the level of universally accepted standards.
"It provides, among other things, for the training and licensing of estate brokers and requires estate brokers, to make available bonds, as guarantees to operators in the property market," he stated.
The Minister said the recent painful Melcom disaster had thought us all a lesson of the need to do things right.
He bemoaned the issue of how some estates have been developed, with little regard to the provision of infrastructure and other social services.
Mr Mensah lamented that in some cases, estate developers have charged home owners for services which they never provided whilst sometimes, the quality of work leaves much to be desired.
"It is in the interest of any developer to build right – that is, by using the right caliber of professionals of the built environment," he noted.
He said the services of estates developers may seem expensive in the beginning, but as the Melcom disaster has shown, it is the best way to provide a sound structure.
"Building right is the also a pre-requisite for support from the finance and insurance companies. Most of all, building right is the supreme interest of the end user, for whom this is a life time investment." He reiterated.
Mr Mensah made a strong appeal to Sethi Realty and the construction company, Shapoorji and Palonji to ensure that the do quality work for the good of the nation.
Under the leadership of Mr C.M. Sethi, the Sethi Group of companies, have revolutionized the Real Estate arena in Commercial and Residential Projects over the past 20 years and has developed and successfully completed various projects in India and other countries.