Gov houses to be renovated at the cost of N$8 million

The Ministry of Works and Transport has set aside N$8 million to renovate some of the government homes and apartments that are in a dilapidated state.

This was revealed by the ministry spokesperson, Julius Ngweda on Tuesday. He said that the project to renovate the houses was already budgeted for and was set to kick off earlier in the year but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are of course worried that we will not be able to renovate enough houses within the budgeted funds before the financial year ends, but we hope to renovate as many as we can with the limited time left before the funds are returned to the treasury,” Ngweda said.

He said the initiative to renovate government houses and buildings is part of their mandate to maintain government buildings and related infrastructure.

He noted that last weeks' hand over of four government houses by Minister John Mutorwa to the association of unemployed artisans and skills development of Namibia is part of this programme.

“We are looking at especially some of the oldest government buildings across the country which are in a worse state.

Especially those with heritage status which are protected by the Heritage Act but they need major renovations and proper maintenance.

We are also looking at flats and we have identified Luna flats near the Namibian Police Force headquarters as the ones to be renovated next,” he said.

- Nampa