WINDHOEK – Caprivi Building Construction, the contractor awarded the tender to construct 276 houses at Bukalo in the Zambezi Region, has attributed delays at the project to problems in accessing building materials.
Caprivi Building Construction, led by Francis Sikumba, was awarded the housing tender to build houses at Bukalo through the mass housing project.
Promise Sundae, the manager responsible for operations at the site, told New Era recently that only 28 houses have been constructed out of the targeted 276 houses and close to 20 houses are still at foundation level. The 28 houses have been plastered and electrified, but are still without roofs.
Furthermore, he singled out the unavailability of local companies to provide building materials as the major cause of the delays in the construction of the mass houses, forcing contractors to buy materials such as roof trusses from South Africa – which take three months to be delivered at the site.
“We are facing a big problem with procuring roof trusses because we order them from South Africa through Megabuild, which take between two to three months to be delivered. Though we are paying upfront, we don’t know why it has to take three month to deliver. On top of that, we are not allowed to order directly ourselves from South Africa,” stated Sundae.
“We were instructed not to use the wooden (wall plates), as they are not durable considering the geographical area of Bukalo,” he told New Era.
He further reiterated that the slowness is also caused by the lack of water in the area, leading them to draw water in tankers from Katima Mulilo, which is approximately 40 kilometres away, while the lack of employees who are leaving for greener pastures is another setback.
“These are the challenges we are faced with, which the passing eye cannot see. The water in Bukalo is not enough to accommodate the mass housing project and it can take three days without water in the area making it more difficult,” he noted.
Late last year, the Caprivi Building Construction was on the verge of losing the tender after it failed to perform its duties when it was discovered that workers and owner of Big Nyathi, a Zimbabwean sub-contractor headed by Morgan Sibanda who partnered with Caprivi Building Construction, entered the country without the requisite work permit.
However, when Sikumba was contacted for comment, he said “I have nothing to share now, contact NHE (National Housing Enterprise) and they will provide you with more information.”
The Chief Regional Officer of Zambezi, Regina Ndopu-Lubinda, could not provide any information on progress at the building project, saying she is on leave and will only visit the site later.