Nuusita Ashipala
Ondangwa-In its quest to address the housing shortage and land delivery, Ondangwa Town Council has availed additional land for the construction of 41 houses for the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN).
The was revealed at the handover of 40 bags of cement to SDFN from Ohorongo Cement in Ondangwa that like many Namibian urban areas grapples with an acute shortage of residential housing.
The 40 houses will add to the existing 104 houses at the town.
Ondangwa Mayor Paavo Amwele said the donation of the cement signifies the will to uplift people out of poverty.
“This occasion marks the donation handing-over to the community to uplift themselves from living in shacks to living in brick-wall houses,” said Amwele.
He dissuaded people from illegal land-grabbing and advised them to seek land in a legal and orderly manner from the town council.
The CEO of Ondangwa, Ismael Namgongo, said the council is indebted to the government to provide affordable land and housing to its residents.
But Namgongo reckons the council cannot fight the land and housing battle alone, hence he expressed his gratitude to the private sector for coming on board.
The manager of Standard Bank Ondangwa, Martha Andreas, encouraged the nation to support the buy-a-brick initiative to address the housing shortage.
The buy-a-brick initiative is aimed to address the lack of housing for low-income or no-income groups.
To this end, 94 houses were constructed to the tune of N$3.4 million through the buy-a-brick initiative in various towns.
“The provision of housing is a major priority for all of us. Standard Bank has a long-standing 10-year partnership with the SDF with the objective to empower the federation to provide decent housing to its members,” said Andreas.
Speaking on behalf of Ohorongo Cement, Ondangwa depot supervisor Jerry Iyambo remarked that shelter is a basic need, which is essential for a healthy and happy life as well as in eradicating poverty.
“The SDF housing initiative has the ability to have a lighthouse effect and could change the lives of many Namibians, whilst also having a positive effect on the local economy,” said Iyambo.