WINDHOEK – During this financial year the Katima Mulilo Town Council will be allocated N$18.5 million for the servicing of land at the town’s three informal settlements namely Choto, Cowboy and Mahohoma.
Mayor Charles Matengu in an interview last Wednesday said council will not service land occupied by residents already. “We are not going to service land which people have occupied. We will be servicing where there is virgin land,” he said. He also said the construction of houses for low- and middle- to upper-income earners is progressing well at the town. The Zambezi Region joined other regions in the country by launching the mass housing project last month, with 327 houses to be built in Katima Mulilo and Bukalo during the first phase at a cost of N$90 million.
Out of the 327 houses, 229 of these units will be social houses that will be affordable to all low-income earners in the region. Meanwhile, the remaining 98 will be conventional houses focusing on the middle-income market. The project has been awarded to Madawa Investment, who are busy with the construction of the houses. “The construction is moving smoothly. There are no hiccups picked up thus far. The construction is now up to window level,” Matengu further explained during the interview. It is expected that some of the first houses will be completed in the next six months. Late last year, President Hifikepunye Pohamba launched the much anticipated National Mass Housing Development Programme that will see 185 000 houses being built by 2030. During the launch at Otjomuise Extension 10, he called on all stakeholders to co-ordinate efforts to ensure there are no unnecessary delays or technical difficulties that would derail the project that aims to remedy the critical housing shortage in the country.
By Albertina Nakale