The controversial STX agreement may have been signed Tuesday but some critics remain pessimistic in the believe that the project is not in the best interest of the country. A Policy Analyst, Kofi Bentil says the project could still have been undertaken by local contractors. Representatives of the Ghanaian government led by the Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and those of the Korea construction firm on Tuesday signed the Suppliers Credit Financing Agreement and the Engineering procurement contract to kick start the construction of the 30,000 housing units for security personnel. The Works and Housing Minister in trumpeting the pros of the project said the local economy will be stimulated as a result of the project. But Mr. Bentil told Joy News “I am not a happy Ghanaian today. To say that after 50 years of independence we have to ask Koreans to come and build barracks for us,” he said. “…What ever the Koreans are coming to do here I still believe we could have done it by ourselves if our leaders were inclined to push that angle,” he added. He said the issue is not necessarily about the local content in the project but about whether it is prudent to have an amount of $10 billion invested in the housing project alone or better still have Koreans build the houses for us. “Why do we need to import Korean technology to build barracks for security services and why do we need to put up $1.5 billion and all the things that we giving to the STX company and not give it to our own artisans who have proven they can do the job.” He said the government has the power to take decisions on behalf of Ghanaians and they have done just that “but I still doubt if it was the best decision that they have made.” “I hope everything works out well but time will tell whether this was the best deal for Ghana,” he said. But officials of Ghana Real Estate Development Association (GREDA) the local contractors who Kofi Bentil is lobby for, insist the STX deal is a good deal. Mr Alex Tweneboah, President of GREDA said there has always been a housing deficit in Ghana since independence and does not matter who is able to put roof over the heads of Ghanaians. He said GREDA cannot provide houses for all Ghanaians and will be happy to have support from other stakeholders. “GREDA has always said that it cannot provide houses alone for all the people of Ghana. It required a huge involvement from various sectors. For me if any body is able to come and give a Ghanaian a roof over his head it’s a good thing, whether it is a Ghanaian or anybody else,” he said. He is hopeful the STX project will include GREDA as much as possible. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interview Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana