Tebboune: “AADL 3 housing program isn’t on government’s agenda”

Minister of housing, town planning and the city, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, revealed Thursday in Algiers, that more than 125,000 public housing units are now vacant or occupied by persons other than the actual recipients.

Over 125,000 public housing units vacant or occupied by persons other than the initial recipients were recorded in early April, the Minister indicated in a statement to the press on the sidelines of a session devoted to oral questions at the Council of the nation or upper house of parliament.

Mr Tebboune also pointed out that the “AADL 3” Housing program isn’t on the government’s agenda at all contrary to was reported previously by some local media outlets.

“Management and real estate offices launched in early April an investigation throughout the national territory to identify vacant public flats or those occupied by non beneficiaries”, he asserted.

This thorough cleansing investigation is still underway, said the Minister for whom the figure is expected to be scaled up.

On the basis of the results of the investigation, the housing ministerial Department will submit a fact-finding report to the Government which will take the necessary measures for the regularization of these dwellings including those sold to third parties in violation of the law, Mr Tebboune underscored.

In response to an oral question from a member of the Council of the nation on the urban situation in the country, the housing Minister said that buildings unfinished and non-conforming to the general town-planning rules will be demolished if the owners don’t comply with the set regulations before August 2016.

The deadlines set by law n°08-15 relating to the regularization of the housing constructions won’t be extended, he warned pointing out that more than 70% of application files submitted so far to the relevant offices to this effect have been processed.

The rehabilitation of the landscape planning of cities and villages across the national territory is a priority for the sector but it is difficult to reconcile between the requirements of quantity and quality due to high demand for new housing, still subsidized by the Algerian state, the Minister further underlined.

Mr. Tebboune also affirmed that with the elimination of precarious and shanty dwellings by the year 2016 and the steady progression in the distribution of different public housing programs, the housing sector will shift to a stage of qualitative improvement.

He further announced that his ministerial Department was currently negotiating with European partners a twinning project for the benefit of the national agency of planning meant for the training of Algerian town planning specialists.