The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development has pleaded with local authorities to make land available for housing programmes at an affordable fee to address the country’s housing backlog.
The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, said there is a need for stakeholders to work together to offer affordable housing for prospective homeowners.
Uutoni said this at Omuthiya where he handed over 50 housing units constructed by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) to the tune of N$18 million.
“We are aware of the realities such as the increasing cost of constructing houses, due to the cost of materials, transportation costs and all other related costs. These factors are beyond our control and have made it quite challenging to maintain the selling prices of houses at the lowest we wish to keep them,†Uutoni said.
“It is for this reason that I continue pleading with local authorities to offer land to the NHE at the lowest prices possible, so that there is a bit of a reduction in the input cost, and subsequently better selling price. This is why in this whole process, as stakeholders being the National Housing Enterprise, the local authority, and the contractors that we bring on board, to all work with a common purpose of delivering quality but affordable homes to our people.
“The 50 houses we are handing over today might be a small number compared to the housing backlog, but for the community of Omuthiya, this I believe means a lot. There are 50 families of this community that will from now on tick off a very important item from their list of basic needs, as they now will have a decent shelter to call their own for generations to come,†Uutoni added.
He said his Ministry will always support every initiative that delivers houses to people at affordable prices, especially those within the low to ultra-low income bracket. Uutoni further underscored the impact the houses in Omuthiya will have in alleviating the housing backlog.
“Therefore, it should not be a problem for land to be made available, from one government entity to another, if the purpose is to provide houses to our people. After all, local authorities and their residents are the biggest winners in projects like this,” he said.
“We should be least concerned about making money from residential land but rather focus on what the envisaged housing development projects will bring to the town. The long-term return on investment from housing development in town is far more important than the quick cash from the sale of land,” the Minister added.
While applauding the contractor, ETN Technical Services CC, for delivering the project, Uutoni echoed his disappointment towards some contractors who fail to perform and end up running to courts trying to find technical ways of benefitting from the contracts they have clearly failed to successfully execute.
“This needs to stop. As contractors, you can either make or break our chances of success in these projects. It is costly to rectify work that was not performed per the required standard; hence it is the contractor’s contractual duty to ensure quality work from the onset so that no extra expenses will be required for rectifications. I previously argued, and still maintain that there is no sense in giving any further government projects to contractors who do not honour and perform the contracts as expected,” he stated.
Meanwhile, NHE Board Chairperson, Toska Sem stressed that “NHE is mandated to build and finance quality and affordable housing products for Namibian inhabitants. We are working tirelessly to guarantee the efficient and effective deliverance of this important national mandate, as evidenced by this momentous occasion we are witnessing today.
Together with NHE, Uutoni will further be handing over housing units in Ondangwa and Okahao bringing the total to 140, inclusive of the ones in Omuthiya.
