The Government will no longer grant blanket tax waiver exemptions on import duties, but it will be on a case-by-case basis, the President John Dramani Mahama announced on Thursday in Accra.

“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 favorably.”

The President made the revelation in his response to a request by Mr Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Court of Appeal Judge on behalf of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) during the commissioning of the GNAT’s state-of-the-art Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography (PET-CT) scan for cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC) in Accra.

PET-CT scan is an advanced imaging test that combines metabolic and structural information to accurately diagnose and monitor diseases like cancer.

SGMC, a state-of- the-art oncology Centre and the leading cancer care provided in West Africa was acquired by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in 2020.

The commissioning ceremony of the PET-CT scan was chaired by Mr Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Court of Appeal Judge.

Touching on a housing project for teachers, the President said the Government in partnership with GNAT and other stakeholders such as the Republic Bank, the State Housing Company Limited (SHC) and TDC would soon set-up a GH¢3 billion Housing Project for teachers.

He noted that they were initiating two housing projects for teachers – the Teacher Dabre Housing Project and the Mortgage Housing Project.

He said the Teacher Dabre was a housing project that was geared towards providing housing on school campuses for teachers who were teaching in those schools.

“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 commutes from town to school every day.”

President Mahama said they had a second housing project and was going to collaborate with GNAT, Republic Bank and State Housing Company Limited (SHC), Tema Development Company Limited (TDC), and a few of the housing companies.

He explained that the second housing project was supposed to provide mortgages to professionals, including teachers.

“And so, we’re going to set up a GH¢3 billion Fund. Republic Bank will contribute, the Government of Ghana will contribute, GNAT contributes, and we will give the money to SHC, TDC and solid real estate developers to build the houses.”

President Mahama said that the houses would be designated in cedis, not in dollars, and that members of GNAT and other professional bodies could take mortgages in those houses.

“Therefore, if you have a certain number of years ahead of you, you can take a mortgage on the house, you pay a down payment, and then the rest will take from your salary over the years,” he said.

“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 go and lay your head.”