Deputy Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare (MGEPESW), Bernadette Jagger, recently emphasised the ministry's ongoing dedication to providing housing for people with disabilities.
This commitment was highlighted during her remarks at a special event in the Kunene Region's Kamanjab Settlement, where low-cost houses built for individuals with disabilities were being handed over.
The Kamanjab Village Council plans to build four low-cost houses for people with disabilities each year under its social housing programme.
This year, only one house has been completed, and three others are still under construction.
The electrified houses cost between N$40,000 and N$80,000, depending on the design of one to four bedrooms with a kitchen and a bathroom.
"We should never forget that improving the living standards of our people, especially the most vulnerable and needy ones, will always remain one of our core and collective objectives as a government. I understand that the trust fund for regional development was used to fund the construction of the four houses."
Jagger added that similar projects must be replicated across the country to meet the government halfway in addressing challenges facing the needy.
A study to determine the number of people with disabilities at the settlement will be conducted.
However, as the first beneficiary of the project, Suzette Shituleni, a blind woman, shared her joy.
"When I first got the land, I thought I was going to put up a shack. So I am very thankful to the All Mighty for getting a four-room house. I am really thankful to our council. I am so pleased to see the minister coming in person to witness this event. I want to share this: a disability is not a sickness. You should always encourage people with disabilities. We are really thankful for the disabled grants. To my fellow disabled people, we can also live like the others. Just like the slogan goes, disability is not inability."
Kamanjab Village Council Chief Executive Officer Bianca Nguaiko says basic services and plot repayments to informal settlement residents will be subsidised.
"We don't have these debt collectors, so that is why we created the system where we have category one, which is 75 dollars for water, all the basic charges included, and also for solid waste upon paying 75 dollars. We will give them four plastic bags as refuse bags so that we can collect the sewerage on a monthly and weekly basis. In the second category, what we are doing is encouraging ownership of plots for our beneficiaries, so the second category is just 75 + 100 for the plot to start repaying the plot. This is one of the criteria for you to be able to be assisted with your housing option. You must have a plot thing already paid off so that you cannot have financial liabilities."