2017-08-01Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala Helao Nafidi-Helao Nafidi Town Council is fighting tooth and nail to regulate the inflated house prices, with more than half of the council’s houses under construction at the town almost complete. About 48 of the 70 houses under construction at the town are almost complete with only a few final touches left. Council is constructing the houses from the council’s own coffers and these will be sold to the town’s inhabitants at a cost of around N$200,000. The proceeds from the housing sales will revolve to construct more houses in the near future. “We want to address the housing shortages at the town. We have a waiting list of 500, but the number has been increasing now that the people are seeing the construction of houses going on,” said Mayor of Helao Nafidi Eliaser Nghipangelwa. Apart from the houses under construction, the council also has further 800 plots, which will be allocated to individuals currently on the council’s list seeking plots. Nghipangelwa said although the houses are meant for low-income earners, preference would be given to applicants at the top of the list. He said negotiations with the applicants on the waiting list will only commence once the houses are ready to be handed over. “We want to be fair to our residents, so we will not omit people because of their income. We would give to whoever is at the top of the list and can afford the houses,” Nghipangelwa said. Nghipangelwa added that council plans to have the houses completed within the next three months so that they can soon be handed to the owners. He said the initiative taken by the council demonstrates that houses in Namibia are affordable – if the prices are not artificially inflated. He said council during forthcoming projects would continue to partner with small and medium enterprises, as it strives to construct affordable houses and tackle unemployment. 2017-08-01Staff Report 2
