While government’s ambitious mass housing scheme is placed on ice, Namibians continue to be the victims of not only the current standoff, but the general housing crisis in the country in general.
What is sad is that the fighting is not elsewhere but among the principals of the project – especially the government as the custodian of the programme and the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) as the executing agency.
Consequently, contractors tasked with multi-million dollar construction work have been inevitably drawn into the fray – with some now threatening to sue government for losses envisaged due to the project’s suspension.
The project has been dogged by controversies from the word go. First it was the manner in which contracts were awarded, with some companies established a few months back receiving huge contracts worth millions of dollars.
But when the dust around this was about to settle another drama followed. This was when government wrote numerous letters to NHE to start the project without delay, while no single cent was yet released for work to begin.
Under pressure from contractors, NHE was forced to fork out funds from its reserves to pay for work done while awaiting for funds from government as the authentic owner of the scheme.
The fact that funds to service land were allocated to local authorities – some of whom have a track record of failure in this regard – only made matters worse.
To date, neither government nor NHE has come out to explain the modus operandi of how these houses will be handed over to residents of respective towns.
It therefore does not surprise anyone that while the masses are gasping for houses, many of such buildings lie idle since their completion months ago.
In principle, mass housing is a timely intervention. It came at a time when thousands of Namibians had given up hope of ever having a place to call home. But a promise of 185 000 houses in 17 years lifted their spirits.
But that would be short-lived if the catfights and bickering we have witnessed in recent weeks continue.
Sadly, this bickering involves people who are home and dry when it comes to the issue of housing. These are people who probably have never endured the emotionally draining experience of paying thousands of dollars in rentals on a place they will never own.
Mass housing is still in its infancy and the squabbling can only dwarf its growth. This is a project that requires undivided attention and commitment among all stakeholders.
The project is a great source of mistrust. Government questions NHE’s commitment, while the NHE claims lack of support from its sole shareholder.
It is difficult, for example, to imagine that NHE would secure N$2 billion from financial institutions to fund the project as per the directive of government.
N$2 billion is no small figure. It is not an amount one would secure with the click of one’s fingers, and not especially for a project dogged by so much infighting and sustained negative publicity.
The nation therefore awaits principals of this project to show leadership and put aside their egoistic differences for the greater good of the nation. So much money has already been committed to the project so there can be no going back now.