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"Spotlight" on housing launched
By
EDDIE MOSES
 PEA and PNGTUC president Michael Malabag launching the Spotlight on Housing flanked by Dr Thomas Webster and Ms Linda Duncan. Picture by Joe Ivaharia THE Feb 2009 issue of the Spotlight with NRI, titled, "The need for a National Strategy to overcome the acute housing shortage situation", was formally launched by the President of the PNG Trade Union Congress, Michael Malabag on Wednesday. The paper co-authored by the Director of the National Research Institute, Dr Thomas Webster and acting Head of Economic Studies, Ms Linda Duncan highlighted the prolonged delay by the National Executive Council to endorse a strategic framework for the design of a National Housing Policy submitted in Jan, 2008. The paper states that in the absence of a coordinated and endorsed policy, the government's responses will continue to be ad hoc and ineffective. The proposed strategic framework identifies the government's role to be one of a regulator and facilitator of private housing market, rather than a direct provider. The focus of the policy should shift to developing the private sector. The paper states that private sector investment in housing is needed to address the housing shortage, simply because the problem is bigger than the government can deal with alone. It asserts that greater involvement of the private sector will free up government resources and enable it to concentrate on core functions, such as health, education, and law and order. It proposes that the National Housing Policy needs to outline strategies that will encourage, facilitate, and assist individual households, companies, and property developers to build and purchase houses. The paper adds that if the government wants to make housing more affordable and reduce the expansion of urban settlements, then it needs to develop a housing policy that will address the formal housing shortage. "To increase the construction of houses, the government needs to focus on creating an environment that is conducive to private sector investment and construction of housing. This can be achieved by improving access to private sector finance, providing public goods and infrastructure, and ensuring that appropriate regulatory, administrative, and institutional arrangements are in place." |
NEWS
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