The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, has appealed to financial institutions to provide low-income earners with loans to build houses.

Uutoni was speaking at the handover of serviced plots at the MTC Land Delivery Ground-breaking Ceremony at Okakarara.

Although all citizens have the right to decent shelter, the unaffordability of houses for the majority remains a concern.

This has resulted in more than 25% of the population living in shacks, a figure that continues to grow rapidly.

It is against this background that MTC Namibia and the Development Workshop Namibia are providing land at a low cost to enable people to construct houses at their own pace.

Uutoni said that although stakeholders are doing their best, financial institutions should come on board.

"I want one day if I go to the bank and I say I need a loan of N$30,000, then that financial institution must give me N$30,000 to go and buy my plot. That is what I want to see, but then when you go to the financial institution and say you want N$20,000, they say no, we are not going to make a profit out of that; we have to change."

The Development Workshop Namibia took care of surveying and the provision of services, while MTC Namibia provided financial support.

"A low-income earner cannot save up to $300,000 in order to buy their house cash, and it is also very difficult for them to go to banking institutions to get a loan to buy these houses that are in a market, but if you provide land that is affordable to them, they can build their houses incrementally. That way, you are also creating an enabling environment for families to contribute towards the construction of these houses because, at the end of the day, these houses become family properties," said Ester Veiko, Acting Country Director at Development Workshop Namibia.

Also speaking at the launch was MTC's Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer, Tim Ekandjo. "I would like to appeal to leadership, not just in Okakarara but everywhere in the country. When it comes to land, we should always keep politics out of it and serve our people as if you are serving your own parents."

707 plots are ready in Okakarara's Extension 7, and 54 residents have already paid for their plots in full, ranging from N$10,000 to N$40,000.