In Swakopmund, 108 houses under the Mass Housing Programme have been handed over to residents by the government.

The structures are part of the 300 mass housing houses, which were abandoned for seven years over payment disputes.

Handing the houses over to beneficiaries at Matutura, the Urban and Rural Development Minister, Erastus Uutoni, stressed that collaboration is required to successfully deliver land and housing.

"In order to meet the land and housing needs of more needy members of our society, I am hereby proposing that the ministries of Urban and Rural Development and Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, and Local Authorities, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission (NPC), increase investment in land delivery in both urban and rural areas as well as roll out the flexible land tenure system, which entails the facilitation of land ownership and tenure security for our people who live in informal settlements."

Erongo Governor Neville Andre commended the New Era Construction Investment Company and other stakeholders for the speedy completion of the houses.

"I know that there is still a huge backlog of housing that we need to address, but these are the little steps of housing delivery that bring a huge relief to our housing backlog. In Swakopmund alone, we have over 22 000 housing backlogs, and that is a big mountain to climb. I therefore want to thank the Namibian Government through the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development for bringing about the revival of this project, which, as we know, was dead for 7 years."

The houses are for low, middle, and upper-income earners who have been struggling to acquire houses for close to two decades.