Olawale Ajimotokan and Tayo Olaleye in Abuja
The federal government has inaugurated 151 housing units in the first phase of the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) estates in Abuja.
The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita unveiled the houses in Kuje, a suburb of Abuja in response to the housing needs of civil servants.
Keys to the houses were presented to 32 beneficiaries of the FISH programme. The Kuje 1 houses comprise blocks of flats of 65 units, constructed by CTQ Nigeria Limited built with loans provided by the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board.
The FISH Estate Kuje 2 has 86 units of 2 bedroom bungalows constructed and financed by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
Oyo- Ita said the programme is expected to address the housing needs of civil servants who are unable to own houses due to the prohibitive cost of land acquisition, building or purchasing of such houses.
“The overall objective of the FISH programme is to improve the quality of life of civil servants and their families which we believe will help foster a multiplier effect on the economy and reduce corruption in the public service, in line with the federal government’s anti-corruption drive. The FISH department has been restructured, staff deployed trained and processes and procedures introduced and streamlined to accelerate the implementation of the programme and achieve this landmark. The new and improved processes and procedures are properly documented and explained in the three handbooks and the website,” Oyo-Ita said.
The HoS stressed that the off-takers of these estates had been profiled, their loans paid and some of them had already moved in and are living in their houses.
She also disclosed that in the next phase of implementation, FISH Estate Kuje 3 comprising 97 bungalows would be commissioned in addition to FISH Karu comprising 20 units of bungalows.
She added that the beneficiaries of the Karu estate were already in possession of their keys.
