After three years of delays and frustrations, Anitua Housing Solutions (AHS) celebrated a significant milestone in October at its large-scale housing development at Kennedy Estate - 7 Mile, Port Moresby. The first set of keys in its 158 house project was handed over to PNG’s latest homeowner.
"I am happy to finally move in and my family and I now have a place to call home" said new homeowner Oripa Popat. “It was a long wait due to delays with the previous management but the AHS team was very dedicated and professional, working hard to get us in to our home.”
The Anitua Group, like many businesses, entered the housing market in Port Moresby in 2015, looking to be part of First Homeownership Schemes and commitments made at the time. Anitua originally invested in a joint venture arrangement with an Australian owned and operated entity. The joint venture partner was to supply materials, manage regulatory approvals and sales while Anitua Constructions would build the houses – Perfect.
Unbeknown to the Group however, like many of the families who had provided deposits and were anticipating the joys of first homeownership, they were sold a fallacy.
Over the next two years the project, its contractors and its homeowners would experience delays and frustrations associated with material supply and regulatory approvals. There was minimal response to their concerns and refund requests. At the start of 2018 Anitua had seen enough, buying out the entity of the failing joint venture in an effort to rescue the homeowners, protect its hard-earned reputation and the interests of their shareholders.
The project then began to operate as Anitua Housing Solutions, under the sole management of Anitua, progressing through a range of issues while being able to further support local businesses across Port Moresby.
AHS Site Manager Tyrrell Maring reports that he has been impressed with everyone’s efforts to successfully turn the housing development around and have families start moving in to their new homes. “The estate has been a collaborative effort between multiple stakeholders and can now be called a success. Very importantly, before the end of the year AHS will fulfill long overdue promises to another 70 homeowners by getting them in to their homes to celebrate Christmas.”
Anitua is a proud, nationally-owned company and the deliverance of such a high-quality housing estate using a majority of locally supplied materials and local workforce is a great achievement.
Anitua CEO Daniel Kaima says “We are grateful for the support of the Lands Ministry and its Department, Eda Ranu, PNG Power, NCDC, several other government agencies and the major banks who have worked with us since inception of our housing project in 2015. It is extremely rewarding to see that this support is facilitating the avenue for Papua New Guineans to own homes.”
