BH Properties, owned by businessman Ben Hauwanga, has only delivered three houses out of 506, two years after acquiring the land to build houses at the Ompumbu location in Oshakati.
The construction of the three houses and a few that are still at the ground levels, started in May last year.
Hauwanga told The Namibian yesterday that the construction of additional houses would start tomorrow.
He said construction of the houses stopped because there was a disagreement between the town council and the owners of the traditional homesteads in the vicinity.
He said the traditional homestead owners initially agreed with the town council to be compensated and leave the area for the construction to continue but they appear to have had a change of mind.
“As I am talking now, the town council went back on site and redesigned the second phase of the new plans because those people will stay there,” Hauwanga said.
He added that they had to stop because the main sewerage pipe was planned to pass through some of the traditional homesteads.
“We couldn’t go ahead, that was the main problem. It was solved very peacefully now that’s why I wanted you to please hold on to your article, then you go there on Thursday … We are starting now with the services,” Hauwanga said.
He added that if The Namibian calls him tomorrow, he will tell the journalist to go to the site and observe the progress.
Hauwanga said that the new plan was given to his company by the Oshakati Town Council last week.
DISAPPOINTED
Oshakati mayor Leonard Hango yesterday said the town council is disappointed with the pace at which BH Properties is working on the housing development.
He said the company could have started with water, electricity and roads first.
According to Hango, had this been done, it would have enticed people to buy houses at Ompumbu.
“If there are traditional homesteads, why did they not start on the other side where there are no houses? If they were unable to, they should come back to the council and inform us they can’t deliver so that another Namibian company can be appointed,” Hango said.
Hango said that the traditional homestead owners have already been compensated.
Oshakati Town Council chief executive Timoteus Namwandi yesterday said BH Properties were told to develop the site first, because banks would not finance houses not connected to bulk water suppliers.
He confirmed that the refusal by the traditional homestead owners contributed to the delay of the project.
A letter from BH Properties to the Oshakati Town Council dated 27 April last year showed that there was an unavailability of funds to start with the construction of the project in 2022.
“We have experienced unforeseen delays in our joint project due to the current downturn in the economy,” the letter reads.
“We have, however, recently made significant progress with the necessary funds to proceed with the construction by the end of May,” BH Properties wrote to the council.
In the letter, BH also promised to do “everything possible to minimise the inconvenience caused by the delay” and undertook “to alter our project scope in order to make up lost ground on the targets that have been set”.
PROMISES
Towards the end of May 2022, the Oshakati Town Council held a groundbreaking ceremony to hand over the site to BH Properties.
Hauwanga at the time said the three-year housing development was valued at N$305 million.
He said the project would provide employment to about 400 to 600 Namibians and that he would subcontract 20 contractors, who would be required to each complete a house every month.
“It means in 15 days, we will have 20 houses already from the floor level,” Hauwanga said in 2022.
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