WINDHOEK – No houses will be constructed in the Omaheke Region during the first phase of the mass housing programme. A document seen by New Era indicates that, apart from the upgrading of 175 informal plots, none of the 10 037 houses that will be constructed during the first phase of the project will be in the Omaheke Region.
The town’s public relations officer, Frederick Ueitele, confirmed that no houses would be constructed in the region because the town did not have serviced ervens when the mass housing programme started.
“It is true that no houses will be constructed during the first phase because there was no erven when the programme started,” said Ueitele.
New Era has received several complaints from community members in the region blaming the town council for failing to take care of the housing needs of the community in Gobabis and subsequently being caught off guard by the programme.
Local contractor, Oshipe Turnkey, has been contracted to do the informal upgrading of the 175 plots. “Instead of building houses the focus will be on servicing 262 erven in Epako and Nossobville. There is an area where we relocated people who were staying at the former single quarters and we are looking at the possibility to build houses on those 175 plots. Many people have built homes with corrugated iron, so we are looking to build brick houses,” said Ueitele.
He said the number of houses to be built would depend on the number of people who can afford a house. The construction of a house will cost N$280 000.
“More houses will come during the other phases. Unserviced land has already been identified. As money becomes available we will look into servicing more land,” Ueitele said.
Government last year commissioned the development programme through which it intends to build 185 000 houses by 2030 to mitigate the nationwide housing deficit. The backlog is predicted to hit the 200 000 mark by 2030 if the ongoing housing crisis is not addressed.
If government is to meet its 185 000 target by 2030, at least over 11 500 houses must be built over the next 16 years. By last year, almost two decades after the National Housing Enterprise was established, NHE only managed to be build about 17 000 houses.
By Mathias Haufiku