RUNDU – Chinese businesswoman Stina Wu is accused of leaving over 30 clients ‘homeless’ after her company failed to deliver houses they are currently paying for.
Steven Kasera, one of the aggrieved clients who spoke on behalf of the victims, said they are financially strapped, having to pay rent and service their home loans at the same time.
They have been forced to rent while waiting for their houses to be delivered since January 2022, when the banks started deducting funds for the home loans they took out.
Kasera said they bought these houses at the Sunshine project at Kaisosi Extension 10 towards the end of 2021.
“In January 2022, they started clearing and building on a portion of land. The banks then paid money to the developer in order for them to build and deliver the houses to us clients, and at the same time they started deducting from us,’’ he stated.
Kasera added: “Some started seeing deductions later in June. We saw them beginning with the construction, and then they stopped. We are paying home loan bonds as if we have been given these properties. Inclusive of our government subsidies, we are paying N$7 000 plus, depending on the design and sizes of the houses”.
The clients alleged that they have on different occasions engaged the site manager, the banks and Wu, but got no positive feedback.
“We also engaged the sales agents; they are telling us that their part was done when they facilitated the sale of the property, and that the issue now is between us, the banks and the developer who failed to deliver. The developer is refusing to engage us, or to tell us what the problem is,” he stressed.
Not my baby
When New Era reached Wu, the owner of property development firm Helmsman Group Namibia, she pinned the blame squarely on the Rundu Town Council and community members.
“We have been in the housing industry for over 10 years, and have delivered hundreds of exceptional quality houses in Rundu, at Rainbow Village and at Sunshine, within the required timeframe. With the current project, the delay has been caused by the community members who have been trying to demand compensation from our company for the land, although that is the town council’s responsibility,’’ she said.
The tycoon indicated that her firm bought the land from another private developer, and claimed they are not the ones directly liable for compensating the community, who claim that the land was for their mahangu plantations.
“Normally, once the council sells land to someone, any affected party should be compensated for that sale. In this case, we are the fourth-time buyers of the land from private individuals. The community members kept threatening our site workers to stop construction activities, otherwise they would physically hurt them. Since the situation escalated and the safety of our workers was at risk, they had to stop the construction for us to take the legal route, which has been taking forever to be finalised,’’ Wu continued.
“It was never our intention to delay the project, and we humbly apologise for the situation the clients are in as they are the most-affected. In the meantime, we have engaged other means of how to mitigate the issue, and we estimate that the houses will be handed over by the end of 2023,” she said.
– jmuyamba@nepc.com.na