Ghana’s construction industry provides thousands of jobs due to the number of artisans required at every stage of the building process.
Even though the industry is capital intensive, many of the people engaged such as masons, plumbers, and tilers, are mostly considered to ply their trade in the informal sector.
Such persons are part of the workers who have been heavily hit by the outbreak of COVID-19, particularly during the three-week partial lockdowm implemented by government in March.
Casual workers at construction sites earn daily wages ranging between 20 cedis and 80 cedis, depending on the nature of work. But the manpower required to do this work most often does not correspond with the income that comes with it.
Due to the fact that the workers earn their income on a daily or weekly basis, the partial lockdown period meant no income for them.
David Koranteng Kwarfo, a plumber is in his early thirties, who works as a plumber with Lakeside Estate Limited, described how COVID-19 has negatively impacted his family of three.
“During the lockdown, we weren’t working. We had to pause the work and stay at home. When you are home too, there is no money for you to feed on. As a casual worker, it is very tough, but the company gave us a bag rice and oil to go through the period,” he said.
To work at a construction site as a labourer or a mason requires a lot of physical strength to move building materials such as blocks, cement, iron rods and woods.
In the period of COVID-19, these people need stronger immune system to overcome the virus if they should get in contact with an infected person. But the daily wages cannot offer such immunity.
“During the lockdown, we were not working. It affected us because as a casual worker, you earn daily wages so if you are not working, you cannot get anything,” another worker said.
Ghana’s construction sector contributes 14.2 percent to the country’s GDP. Figures from the Ghana Statistical Service show that the sector has seen about 70 percent growth in its activities. With Ghana’s housing deficit growing by the year, more houses are needed to bridge the gap.
But it appears COVID-19 will delay efforts directed at reducing the housing deficit. Even though Lake Side Estate is a private development, the Operations Manager, Samuel Searyoh, says the company has taken drastic measures to put its staff on rotation while it only targets priority projects.
“The lockdown period was hundred percent layoff, but when it was lifted, we had to work on rotational basis. Even as a company, we had to slow down with the number of houses we were building. We had to work on houses that have fully been paid. So, we prioritize the houses that warranted the rotational processes,” he said.
The Ghana Real Estate Developers Association, GREDA, is an advocate group for private developers. Patrick Ebo Bonful, the President of GREDA, maintains that it is time for government to invite GREDA to discuss ways of accessing cheaper funds.
“For us, we have already sent a proposal to government. In the proposal, we talked about a review of the Home Mortgage Finance Law. We also made a proposal for the creation of large land banks across the country by government so that we will have land readily available for us to develop. We are mostly entrepreneurs, so once the policy framework is set up, our entrepreneurial skills will kick in and we will be able to recover our businesses,” he stated.
