President John Dramani Mahama has announced that government will no longer grant blanket tax waiver exemptions on import duties, stating that future exemptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
“So, if you order any medical equipment, you can apply for exemption on that equipment, and I can assure you that we’ll look at it favourably,” he said.
President Mahama made the remarks on Thursday in Accra during the commissioning of the Ghana National Association of Teachers’ (GNAT) state-of-the-art Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET-CT) scan facility for cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC).
The PET-CT scan is an advanced imaging technology that combines metabolic and structural information to accurately diagnose and monitor diseases such as cancer.
SGMC, a leading oncology centre in West Africa, was acquired by GNAT in 2020.
The commissioning ceremony was chaired by retired Court of Appeal Judge, Justice Isaac Douse, who also appealed to government on behalf of GNAT for tax waivers on imported medical equipment.
Touching on housing for teachers, President Mahama disclosed that government, in partnership with GNAT and other stakeholders including Republic Bank, State Housing Company Limited (SHC) and Tema Development Company Limited (TDC), would soon establish a GH¢3 billion housing project for teachers.
According to him, the initiative will include two major housing schemes — the Teacher Dabre Housing Project and the Mortgage Housing Project.
He explained that the Teacher Dabre Housing Project is aimed at providing accommodation for teachers on school campuses.
“We want to make sure that when teachers are posted to a school, they’re able to get accommodation to live on the campus rather than commute from town to school every day,” he said.
President Mahama added that the second housing initiative would focus on providing affordable mortgage options for professionals, including teachers.
“We’re going to set up a GH¢3 billion fund. Republic Bank will contribute, the Government of Ghana will contribute, GNAT will contribute, and we will give the money to SHC, TDC and credible real estate developers to build the houses,” he stated.
He noted that the houses would be priced in cedis rather than dollars, making them more accessible to Ghanaian workers.
Members of GNAT and other professional bodies, he said, would be able to acquire the houses through mortgage arrangements.
“If you have a certain number of working years ahead of you, you can take a mortgage on the house, pay a down payment, and the rest will be deducted from your salary over the years,” he explained.
“So, by the time you reach retirement age, you will not go to your family house and quarrel over which was your grandmother’s room or your grandfather’s room. You already have a place to lay your head.”
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