Dear Editor,
Some unscrupulous house owners in the area around the UG campus are ripping off poor parents from the countryside by charging exorbitant rents for lodging alone for their children who cannot be provided with accommodation at the dorms.
Several parents including myself were there making enquiries, and it was shocking to learn of the price range, ie, between twenty-five and thirty thousand dollars per month for a very small apartment just suitable for a single person. No two persons can live there so that the rent could be shared between them; this is just a room space and nothing else, not even a chair.
In some instances, running water is only available outside where there is a latrine, and no inside bathroom and toilet. A certificate from the Public Health Department should become compulsory for habitation.
More worrying too is that they are asking for two months’ rent in advance, when it is already so difficult to get the money to pay for one month. The explanation given by a female owner is that the ‘extra’ month’s rent is being held as security for any damage done to the apartment, but this kind of stipulation creates further hardship.
It would be useful for government to look into this matter and urgently too, by setting up a Rent Assessment Committee to execute inspections and come up with its findings for there to be reasonable charges.
The income derived from the rent is taxable and GRA needs to do its job as well.
Yours faithfully,
Kenrick James
