John Muyamba
Rundu-The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) yesterday handed over a site at Kaisosi in Rundu, Kavango East, to commence with the construction of 123 houses.
Rundu mayor Verna Sinimbo welcomed the project, saying it will benefit residents of the town and it will contribute towards infrastructure development of the town.
“It is common knowledge that Namibia faces a housing backlog and Rundu is not exempted from this issue, this project will bring 123 homes for families in Rundu. This is indeed a call for celebration, because it is progress in terms of our Vision 2030 to provide affordable housing to middle and low-income earners,” said an elated Sinimbo.
“I’m excited because this is the occasion that we have been looking forward to. We have been grappling how we can come up with new projects and this is just one of the projects, last week we were in Oshakati where we handed over a site of 200 houses and 50 in Omuthiya, and here in Rundu 123 houses will be constructed by Darwin Investment group Namibia in a joint venture with Salami Island Investments,” said NHE CEO, Gisbertus Mukulu.
“NHE is mandated to build and finance quality houses for inhabitants of Namibia and generally provide for the housing needs of such inhabitants. NHE is working tirelessly to ensure efficient and effective deliverance of this important mandate,” Mukulu said. Deputy Minister of Urban and Rural Development Sylvia Makgone officiated the site handover. “This signifies another milestone in the government’s quest to house the Namibian people in decent houses, I’m saying it with joy because it is precisely a week that NHE hosted two events of a similar nature in Oshakati and Omuthiya,” she said.
“To us as government the construction of houses under the mass housing development programme and the servicing of land under the massive urban land servicing projects, are not the only interventions being undertaken and promoted in the quest to reduce the housing backlog in the country especially for the low and ultra low income groups,” Makgone further stated.
The deputy minister reiterated that government has through its national development road maps such as the Vision 2030, the National Development Plans and the Harambee Prosperity Plan identified and invested in housing and land delivery as two of its critical national priorities and important vehicles for addressing poverty and inequality.
Makgone told the contractors to build strong, quality houses with roofs that will not easily be blown away by wind like what happened at some of the NHE Mass Housing Development units in Rundu.