Nuusita Ashipala
ONGWEDIVA – Potential house owners at Ekuku came out gun blazing, accusing the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) of building sub-standard houses.
They claim, banks said they will not finance such poor quality houses. NHE Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager Eric Libongani refuted the claims, saying the bricks meet the benchmark of the Namibian Standard Institution (NSI).
Potential homeowners alleged that NHE uses single 110mm bricks instead of double 220mm bricks.
Bankers also refuted the claims saying they are baseless as the banks financed the NHE houses in question without any qualms on the quality of the bricks being used.
“If you look at the affordability which is the issue here, if you double the bricks then you will double the cost. It is an issue of cost. But those who can afford can still double even though it is not the minimum requirement,” said Libongani.
He explained the low-cost housing enterprise strives to construct affordable houses at the minimum standard.
“People are just crying foul. If we double the price people are still going to whine that the houses are not affordable,” he said. The NHE is currently constructing 200 houses at Ekuku in Oshakati of which 41 houses are already at floor level while 59 houses are between floor and window level.
The rest of the houses are still at floor level but they are expected to be completed by February next year.
Meanwhile, 50 houses are also under construction at Okahao while another 50 are under construction in Omuthiya and 123 at Rundu. The houses are being constructed in partnership with private companies and NHE to accelerate land delivery to the masses on the NHE waiting list.