SWAKOPMUND, 02 FEB (NAMPA) - A Cabinet decision was made to reduce the prices of houses constructed under Governments Mass Housing Project (MHP) to enable low-income earners to afford them.
This was announced by Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, at Swakopmund on Friday, when she handed over 400 houses to beneficiaries under the MHP.
The reduced houses are two bedrooms under D1 category, which initially cost close to N.dollars 200 000 and are now sold for N.dollars 70 000, with a monthly instalment of N.dollars 550. This, Shaningwa said, is to benefit people who earn between N.dollars 2 700 and N.dollars 3 000 monthly, as they can now afford them.
She said because the houses constructed through the National Housing Enterprises (NHE) were too expensive for the targeted group, a compromise was made to offer them at the cheapest price.
This is what we have to do to avoid having white elephants on this national project, said Shaningwa, laying the blame squarely at the feet of NHE for constructing expensive houses when they knew the houses were for low-income earners.
She urged the NHE enterprise to refrain from making the same mistake again in the future as it cost Government a lot of money.
Government paid a lot of money for these houses yet we have to sell them at the lowest price, simply because someone did not do their job right, she lashed out at the NHE.
She further warned against 'laziness and the neglect of duties' at NHE and other Government institutions under her ministry, saying those who do not deliver should resign.
I do not understand people who relax when their jobs are not done. This is not about you or me it is about the people who need houses. You are paid to work and if you cannot work, then why can you not return the salary? she quizzed.
Shaningwa said delays in completing houses do not only rob those who need houses of shelter but also deny the unemployed a chance to get jobs in those projects, warning the contractors who do not complete their projects.
[When] you delay the job, you take bread off someones table, from today on there should be no further delays. If you cannot do the work, I will get rid of you, she said.
The 400 houses are part of the 883 properties constructed.
Another 638 houses are still to be completed under the same project in Swakopmund.