Urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni says every income category is provided with housing projects that correspond to their financial position through national housing programmes.
Uutoni handed over 53 houses built under the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme at Greenwell Matongo yesterday.
“Those in a good financial position are the ones who usually criticise our efforts, that we are not doing anything. These are tailor-made products meant for the very recipients we are giving [houses] today. For them, this shift from shack to these beautiful houses is a dream come true.”
He said providing big, costly houses to an income group that cannot afford the installments would be detrimental to the national objective to ensure that every citizen has decent housing.
The upgrading programme is a smart partnership between the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, Khomas Regional Council, National Housing Enterprise (NHE) and the City of Windhoek. The programme was launched in August 2020.
A total of 652 houses have been constructed through the programme in various informal settlements in Windhoek.
Khomas governor Laura McLeod-Katjirua said the effective provision of housing and sanitation is impacted by several factors.
“These factors include, the current cumbersome land delivery process, the availability of insufficient resources, the current cumbersome process of procurement, the land owners and security of tenure, the existing housing backlog, the interdependency and effectiveness of the different existing housing projects and the efficient and effective cooperation and coordination of the implementing role players.”
She highlighted that the government’s responsibility to low income groups remains the same, despite the scarcity of resources.
Uutoni said the government, through the urban and rural development ministry, is doing its best to provide decent housing and improved living standards for the Namibian people.
“We have made this intervention to make housing dreams come true, hence we will forever be proud to continuously and little by little restore our people’s dignity with this project,” he said.
The minister noted that several projects contribute towards the housing objectives. These include the Build Together Programme, Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia and the Mass Housing Development Programme.
Uutoni will travel to Swakopmund to hand over houses constructed through the Mass Housing Development Programme next week Thursday.
One of the housing beneficiaries, Paulina Nekomba, expressed her pride at having her own house.
“Being in a shack for so many years, I never thought that I would own my own house, due to houses being expensive, but through this initiative, I am able to afford my house,” she said.
Another beneficiary, Helena Stephanus, also expressed her gratitude.
Speaking at the handover, Uutoni spoke against the contracting of debt-collecting agencies by local authorities and questioned whether the repossession of houses on the basis of one month’s missed bills was justified.
“Are the houses repossessed because they (the recipients) can no longer afford it, because they just skipped one month not paying the water and immediately, that one month they skipped, not even 60, not even 90 days, not even 120 days, just one month and already debt collector agency? [sic]
“We cannot allow a situation where local authorities in Namibia are managed by agencies,” he said.
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