By Wezi Tjaronda
OPUWO
The Tunga Tunga African Building Project stands accused of not delivering on their promise to erect pre-fabricated housing.
Uaimue van der Merwe, a headman of the Ehomba Community in the Kunene Region said managing member of Tunga Tunga, Elsie Yu Khun, registered 34 people in Opuwo between June and September last year.
These people paid registration fees ranging from N$150 for pensioners and N$250 for other individuals and deposits of between N$500 and around N$10 000. A certain Festus Ndjai paid N$9 800 deposit according to the records kept by Van der Merwe, who facilitated the process.
According to his records, seven people paid N$1 000 deposits for 12 square metre houses priced at N$11 700, four paid N$1 500 deposit each for a 26 square metre house that cost N$17 100, while three paid N$2 500 deposit for the 38 square metre houses going for N$26 100.
Most of the prospective buyers were asked to deposit their money into the Tunga Tunga account at Bank Windhoek account number 8000837102, said Van der Merwe.
According to Van der Merwe, the amount paid by the community members from Otjapi Tjapi, Okurave, Opuwo, Okandungu, Ouhina and Kaokotavi amounts to N$38 650 and N$7 050 in deposits and registration fees respectively.
With this development in mind, the facilitator approached the Town Council to allocate erven to about 20 prospective homeowners.
According to the contract, the buyers were to receive their houses five months after signing.
Van der Merwe said between January and March this year, he called Yu Khun to find out the cause of delay in delivering the material.
Yu Khun said in a letter attached to the contract the company was experiencing problems, as containers were not collected because of non-payment of transportation costs, which resulted in loss of revenue.
She said the company would establish an assembly plant to solve the problem.
Van der Merwe said the project sent a representative to bring contracts for the people to either sign or cancel because the prospective homeowners were disgruntled.
He said about seven people cancelled and wanted their money back.
“By that time we were dealing with three groups of people, one that signed the contracts, the second cancelled and the third that did not meet the Tunga Tunga representative,” said Van der Merwe.
The erf bills for the purchasers were also accumulating due to non-payment resulting in uncertainties of owning homes.
Van der Merwe said he went to Windhoek to meet Yu Khun in April. She said she would refund the deposit and not the registration fees.
The contract stipulates that cancellation was in breach of contract and would occur if the “seller fails to deliver pre-fabricated material within five months and that the seller will refund the remaining part of the deposit which has not been used for administrative costs and insurance within 90 days”.
So far a few whom Van der Merwe said had legal representation have received their deposits back.
“Now we have a problem. I thought I was bringing development to the people.
“Many who did not have lawyers and have no means to call frequently are still waiting for their refunds,” he said.
The contract also says it is the responsibility of the buyer to pay for and obtain approval from the relevant municipality to erect the dwellings and to transport materials to the erf where the structure will be erected as well as for the costs and completion of foundation prior to delivery of pre-fabricated structure and also for the tiles and bathroom and toilet accessories.
Meanwhile, Van der Merwe said he was told that Tunga Tunga has closed and has been replaced by Asia Africa Excellence.
Efforts to get comment from Yu Khun have been unsuccessful. One of her phones is off – the cell phone gives a “not available” message, and another landline remains unanswered.