GROOT AUB – Desperate people wanting houses in the towns of Groot Aub and Gobabis have been left penniless after paying thousands of dollars for supposed low-cost houses that turned out to be false promises.
The residents are now planning to approach the courts in a bid to recoup their hard-earned cash.
A relatively unknown company called Hydraform Interlocking Building Solutions promised to offer low-cost houses with three-bedrooms going for as little as N$30 000. However, the owner of the questionable Rehoboth-based company is yet to erect a single house for any of the people who signed up in the scheme.
The company is also facing legal challenge from the South African company that owns the copy right to the name Hydraform. Marius !Kharigub, the owner of the Rehoboth-based Hydraform Interlocking Building Solutions is said to have bought a second-hand hydraform machine that makes bricks, interlocks and paving blocks from Hydraform in South Africa, and has since started using the name hydraform.
People who paid between N$30 000 and N$50 000 for low-cost houses told New Era that it appears the court is the only way to recoup their money from !Kharigub.
Some of those who lost their money say the builder only laid the foundations, while at other erven there has been no construction work for more than a year now.
Among those who were conned is Lesley Meyer, a resident and traditional leader at Groot Aub, who paid !Kharigub N$31 500 cash in advance for a three-bedroomed house after signing a contract on January 16, 2014. The total value of the house was said to be N$100 000.
Yet a year after signing the contract, Meyer still has no evidence of a house being constructed for him.
“The first group was here. They worked and then they were told to leave,” said Meyer, adding that two more groups of builders also arrived and were also told to leave by the building firm.
Meyer said that after realising that the project was dubious, he contacted his lawyers.
“I have nothing against anybody, but I want to warn my fellow Namibians to thoroughly check the project before they enter into a contract,” he added.
He said that he does not know how many people registered with the firm and paid registration money, but he knew of two people in Groot Aub who paid N$50 000 and N$20 000, as deposit.
“I went up to their offices in Rehoboth, but they promise every time that builders will come the next week,” he said.
The total value of the money paid as deposits by people searching for homes could not be established, but the company started registering people and taking deposits in 2013. The company itself acknowledged receiving 4 000 applications.
Prospective homeowners were asked to pay N$250 as registration fee for a two-bedroomed house, while for a three-bedroomed semi-luxury house, applicants forked out N$350. If they opted for a luxury four-bedroomed house, it cost N$500 in registration fees.
At the time, the company claimed it could build a one-bedroomed house of 55 square metres for N$30 000, an 86-square-metre two-bedroomed house for N$60 000, a three-bedroomed house of 93 square metres for N$80 000 and a 115-square-metre house with four bedrooms for N$100 000.
Loan repayments would start at N$250 for one-bedroomed units to N$1 500 for a luxury four-bedroomed house with a geyser, ceiling, tiles, built-in cupboards and one-and-a-half bathrooms and anyone earning from N$1 000 upwards could qualify for a house.
South Africa’s Hydraform International has distanced itself from the Rehoboth-based construction company saying the dubious Rehoboth company is not even authorised to use the Hydraform name, as it does not represent the company in Namibia.
!Kharigub, who has previously been eager to comment whenever approached by New Era, was yesterday not taking calls with his cellular phone constantly engaged, while the office number is out of order.