TSUMEB – About 200 teachers will become home owners after BH Properties received land to build houses in Nomtsoub in Tsumeb.
BH Properties is solely owned by prominent businessman Ben Hauwanga.
In a letter dated March 6, 2015, the CEO of the Tsumeb Municapility, Archie Benjamin, requested principals at various schools in Tsumeb to inform teachers that about 200 houses would be built for them.
“The Tsumeb Municipal Council allocated land to BH Properties, a construction company that will construct about 200 houses in Tsumeb for teachers with pre-approved bank loans,” reads the circular meant for schoolteachers.
Benjamin further requested teachers to hand in pre-approvals from banks when they apply for the future houses.
“We request teachers with bank approvals to apply for these houses. Such applications can be submitted at the municipal offices the soonest,” he stated.
The houses are in addition to the 1 500 that will be built in Tsumeb and expected to be completed for occupation by 2017.
The municipality has in the past come under fire for allocating land to the elite that already have large chunks of land in other parts of the country.
Sources had questioned why large pieces of land are being given to a selected few and also revealed that some allocations were done without proper council allocation.
In recent weeks a case cropped up in which an elderly lady had bought a plot from the municipality in 1989, but which was sold to another developer, creating much embarrassment at the local authority. However, the lady had for the past 26 years kept all original receipts relating to the purchase of the property, which showed she owned the plot.
Benjamin was unable to answer questions on why such a huge piece of land was allocated to the businessman, whether council approved the allocation and how much the land in question cost. He however confirmed receiving the questions.
He said, “I received the questions and I have nothing to say about it.”
Chairperson of the management committee Christophina Kasiringua said she did not understand why the CEO was mum on the issue.
“I mean he is the administrator and he deals with these issues on a daily basis. Why is it so difficult to speak about these things, how am I supposed to remember all the minutes of council meetings. I am out of town, please call me when I am back,” she said when contacted at the time.
Efforts to get comment from Hawanga proved futile as his mobile phone was switched off.