WINDHOEK – With the housing backlog set to hit the 200 000 mark by 2030 if nothing radical is done to address the housing shortage, the N$8.3 billion appropriation to the housing sector in the national budget could not have come at a better time.
Of the amount allocated by the Minister of Finance, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, N$2.6 billion will fund the ambitious Mass Housing Development Programme to construct 10 137 houses and service 6 457 plots around the country during its first phase.
“A total of N$8.3 billion is made to the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development for the provision of residential housing in various towns and cities,” said the minister on Wednesday when delivering the 2014/2015 budget statement in parliament.
Manager of Research and Competitor Intelligence at FNB Namibia, Namene Kalili, said it will take time to address the housing crisis because the groundwork is yet to be addressed but he was optimistic that the target to construct 185 000 houses by 2030 is attainable.
Kalili also said the environment in which houses are to be delivered is not conducive for accelerated delivery. “Our municipalities and deeds office, especially here in Windhoek need to be capacitated if the crisis is to be addressed. It takes the deeds office a year to complete 7 000 house transfers, while it takes the municipality a month to approve 40 house plans. These are all things that will delay the programme if not addressed,” Kalili said.
Aspects like water and electricity must also be addressed because of the increase in residents that the programme will bring, he said.
“The groundwork needs to be sorted out. Delivering houses takes time because you do not just build a house in a month, therefore the programme will not have an immediate impact,” he said.
Although he said the 185 000 target can be attained he warned that, if the programme is not well implemented, it could end up being another TIPEEG.
“You saw what happened with TIPEEG, when the targets were missed in the first year people started to abandon it. But in this case housing is too important, so we cannot risk doing the same,” cautioned Kalili.
By Mathias Haufiku