Uutoni warns sloppy contractors of blacklisting at Mass Housing handover
By Adolf Kaure.
The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Hon Erastus Uutoni cautioned contractors that they would be blacklisted if they do not stick to their contractual obligations to finalise the construction of houses and erven.
He said this at the handover of 108 completed Namibia Housing Enterprises (NHE) houses in Swakopmund’s Matutura township on Friday.
The houses are part of the government-funded Mass Housing Development Programme which remained incomplete for seven years.
“As we celebrate the important milestone, I wish to address the issue of delays in the execution and completion of national projects such as this namely actions of some private contractors who tender for and get work opportunities from the government but do not honour their contractual obligations in completing projects on time and on budget,” he admonished.
“This results in increase in costs and unwanted blames on the government while the fault is actually on the part of the defaulting contractors.”
“This is unacceptable and I am calling for stern action against such contractors including black-listing them,” said Uutoni.
The minister commended New Era Contractors, who took over the project and have been delivering as stipulated in their agreement. One of the beneficiaries of the houses, Ivonne Ekandjo-Abraham expressed her gratitude to all who contributed in making her a new home owner.
“It is a great honour to stand here in front of all you and to thank the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development for such a big initiative as well as the Swakopmund Municipality for availing land. Lastly, I would like to say thank you to NHE for making our dreams come true.”
“On behalf of all other members of NamPol, who are beneficiaries, we say thank you so much to make it possible for all of us to own our own pieces of land and properties for such an affordable price,” said Ekandjo-Abraham.
Also speaking at the event, Erongo Governor, Neville André expressed his satisfaction with the progress on building the houses.
“I expected that only 64 would be completed when I announced my State of the Region Address, but it is 108 houses and most of the houses that need to be completed are already at roof level,” he said.
The ground-breaking for the homes took place on 25 October 2022 to launch the start of the construction for 319 houses. The rest of the 211 houses are expected to be completed by June 2024.
“Let us work around the clock to make sure that the rest houses are completed as soon as possible,” said André.
The homes are of different sizes for different income groups, ranging from ultra low to credit link.
Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni (left) cuts the ribbon as he hands over a home to Shirley !Owos-oas (second from right) in the presence of Swakopmund mayor Dina Namubes (third from right) and alternate chairperson of the Swakopmund Town Council management committee Claus Goldbeck (right). (Photograph by Adolf Kaure)
