THE Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has asked the National Housing Corporation (NHC)’s board and management to put measures in place that will reduce the cost of affordable houses from 30m/- to between 20m/- and 25m/-.
In the same vein, PAC wants the housing
body to put measures in place for a comprehensive housing policy as the
country’s population continues to increase, especially in the urban
areas.
Yesterday, PAC members visited the NHC
headquarters in Dar es Salaam and held a meeting with the management
before touring various areas where NHC is carrying out its projects.
Briefing journalists immediately after
the closed door meeting, PAC Acting Chairman, Dr Haji Mponda said after
going through the financial statements of the housing corporation, the
committee was satisfied that it was doing well.
“As the watchdog committee we are
satisfied that the taxpayers’ money spent in various projects is
utilized well and we are glad that NHC is heading in a proper
direction,’’ he said. According to him, NHC was making a lot of profit
that makes it stronger every year.
In 2011, Dr Mponda said NHC made a
profit amounting to 7.9bn/-, in 2012 the profit was 6.6bn/- while in
2013 the profit was 17.9bn/-. He added that in 2014, the profit
increased to 36.9bn/- while in 2015/2016 financial year NHC retained the
same profit as the previous financial year (36.9bn/-).
“However, we still have a challenge on
the housing policy because the population of the country is increasing,
so we have tasked the board and the management to come up with a housing
policy,’’ he added.
Dr Mponda said the cost of purchasing
houses was still higher compared to the income of people, pleading for
cost cutting strategies that would see a house purchased at 30m/- going
lower to at least 20m/- or 25m/-.
The parliamentary committee also
commended NHC for tax compliance. According to him, last year NHC paid
to the government 27.5bn/- in taxes
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