The Urban and Rural Development Minister has urged the housing sector role players to contribute to the realisation of President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah's target to build 10,000 houses this financial year.
James Sankwasa made the call during the official handover of 55 housing units and the groundbreaking ceremony of the 65 Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) at Okongo in the Ohangwena Region.
The SDFN housing units were built through a public-private partnership comprising the government, SDFN, Standard Bank's Buy a Brick Initiative, Ohorongo Cement, Build It Okongo, FNB Namibia, Kambwa Trading and Pupkewitz Foundation.
During the official handover, Minister Sankwasa applauded Standard Bank's Buy a Brick Initiative that was started in 2015 for its immense contribution to the country's development goals.
"The federation has informed us that they intend to build 3,116 houses this year. If you take that from the target of 10,000, it shows you that, indeed, we are getting there. We need to give them a loud applause. There are some stakeholders who will each be given a quarter that has translated itself to us getting 10,000. As I said earlier, how do we eat this elephant? We should take it piece by piece so that we get there."
He issued a stern warning to those obstructing development in regional and local authorities.
"Honourable Governor, we must put our hands together and deal with that situation. It is urgent because honourable councillors, including me, a member of parliament, always go up and tell people to elect us to bring development, and if we do not provide that development, then we become a misfeed. I call upon you, Honourable Governor, to ensure that you follow up on this statement, this information that Eenhana, until now, is failing to provide land for the houses to be constructed. That's a very serious issue."
Standard Bank's Head of Marketing, Magreth Mengo, is pleased by the partnership that provides decent houses for the low-income earners.
"The idea was simple but powerful: it enables every Namibian and company to donate as little as the price of a brick and together raise funds to build decent homes for those living in the informal settlement. Since then, thousands of bricks have been bought, but most importantly, hundreds of houses have been built; lives have been changed, and dignity has been restored."
Ohorongo Cement Chief Executive Officer Hans Willem Schutte thanked Okongo Village Council for availing land for the construction of the 55 housing units and the 65 planned housing units.
"Together we can translate value, ensuring that our people not only enjoy peace and stability in this Namibian house in a broader context but actually move from shacks to shelter as per our slogan."