WINDHOEK – Gobabis Mayor Sila Bezuidenhoudt has pleaded with informal settlers of Tuerijandjera in Gobabis to pave the way for the development of the multi-billion-dollar mass housing project.
Bezuidenhoudt who last week was re-elected the town mayor says although the town stands to benefit, the project is still to be kick-started partly because the area earmarked for the project is occupied by illegal informal settlers.
“The mass housing project has benefited people in other towns across the country while in Gobabis it is still to begin,” she said in her mayoral acceptance speech.
Earlier this year Nampa reported that the municipality allocated land for the construction of close to 400 houses as part of the mass housing scheme.
At the time Bezuidenhoudt said the bulk of the houses – 250 units – would be low-cost houses to be constructed in Epako.
She said other houses would be constructed in more affluent suburbs of the town and mainly be for the middle- to high-income groups.
The government’s mass housing project aims to build 185 000 houses by 2030 at a cost of N$45 billion.
Government during this financial year allocated N$1.9 billion to the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development for implementation of the mass housing programme.
It plans to build about 9 000 houses at a cost of N$2.7 billion in the next 15 months.
The Gobabis Municipality entered into agreements with two of the country’s most prominent low-cost housing initiatives, the Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia (SDFN) and the Namibia Housing Action Group (NHAG), for the construction of low-cost houses in the town to ease the pressing need for housing.
Under the agreement, the municipality provides the land on which the houses will be constructed, with the NHAG providing technical support in the form of training in brick-making and building for the beneficiaries.
The SDFN is responsible for mobilisation and education campaigns to ensure the initiative is understood by its beneficiaries.
The SDFN is also the custodian of a savings scheme aimed at providing low-income earners with the means to buy their own houses.
Last week Thursday the town re-elected Sila Bezuidenhoudt as the mayor to be deputised by Elizabeth Amutenja (Swapo).
The management committee consists of Liberius Kalili as chairperson, Ignatia Glaser and Magdalena Beukes all Swapo councillors, Rally for Democracy and Progress’ (RDP) Elizabeth Kamboua and DTA of Namibia’s Manfred Jacobs.
By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa