Shack dwellers at Otavi receive new houses
OTAVI – Twenty members of the Shack Dwellers' Federation of Namibia (SDFN) on Wednesday received new houses built under the federation at Otavi in the Otjozondjupa Region.
Sylvia Makgone, the deputy minister of urban and rural development, who handed over the houses, said the SDFN has proved itself to be a working low-cost housing programme that needs support in its quest to reduce the increasing number of makeshift houses in the country. She said the housing activities of the federation impressed the government, as they do not discriminate on basis of socio-economic differences, age or gender.
“We will therefore continue to work with this federation since now we have a plan to reduce the number of shack houses in the country and provide affordable quality houses to the people,” said Makgone.
A technical expert member of the SDFN, Heinrich Amushila, said the federation is available in all towns and proclaimed settlements of the country's 14 regions. Otavi alone has 220 members, while the federation itself has 23 000 members countrywide.
“We have so far built 4 800 houses across the country since our formation 18 years ago,” he said.
The actual construction of the houses by the SDNF members at Otavi started in July 2016 and was completed in July 2017. The members bought building materials and used knowledge of experienced builders among them to build the houses with their own hands. One-bedroom houses with an open-plan kitchen and toilet were built at a cost of less than N$40 000 each. The beneficiaries acquired the plots of between 300 and 400 square metres each from the Otavi Town Council at the beginning of 2016 at a cost of N$10 per square metre.
The managing director of Ohorongo Cement, Hans-Wilhelm Schütte, said the new houses were partly funded by a joint donation made by Ohorongo, the Pupkewitz Foundation, the FNB Namibia Foundation Trust, and Neo Paint.
Schütte said his company will continue to partner with the housing activities of the federation.– Nampa
Sylvia Makgone, the deputy minister of urban and rural development, who handed over the houses, said the SDFN has proved itself to be a working low-cost housing programme that needs support in its quest to reduce the increasing number of makeshift houses in the country. She said the housing activities of the federation impressed the government, as they do not discriminate on basis of socio-economic differences, age or gender.
“We will therefore continue to work with this federation since now we have a plan to reduce the number of shack houses in the country and provide affordable quality houses to the people,” said Makgone.
A technical expert member of the SDFN, Heinrich Amushila, said the federation is available in all towns and proclaimed settlements of the country's 14 regions. Otavi alone has 220 members, while the federation itself has 23 000 members countrywide.
“We have so far built 4 800 houses across the country since our formation 18 years ago,” he said.
The actual construction of the houses by the SDNF members at Otavi started in July 2016 and was completed in July 2017. The members bought building materials and used knowledge of experienced builders among them to build the houses with their own hands. One-bedroom houses with an open-plan kitchen and toilet were built at a cost of less than N$40 000 each. The beneficiaries acquired the plots of between 300 and 400 square metres each from the Otavi Town Council at the beginning of 2016 at a cost of N$10 per square metre.
The managing director of Ohorongo Cement, Hans-Wilhelm Schütte, said the new houses were partly funded by a joint donation made by Ohorongo, the Pupkewitz Foundation, the FNB Namibia Foundation Trust, and Neo Paint.
Schütte said his company will continue to partner with the housing activities of the federation.– Nampa
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