Venezuela's Ambassador to Namibia says he is proud of the trajectory of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Omar Paredes paid a courtesy call on President Nangolo Mbumba at State House earlier on Wednesday.

The recent inaugural Namibia-Venezuela Joint Commission of Cooperation meeting saw the identification of critical economic areas of interest, including mining, agriculture, and housing.

Potential products for trade from both sides identified encompass fish, beef, salt, minerals, and petroleum, among others.

The Namibian Statistics Agency (NSA) has finally completed its 2023 Population and Housing Census fieldwork.

The agency began the process on September 18, 2023, and concluded it with the post-enumeration survey, including the reconciliation field visit on February 14, 2023.

During this period, the NSA dedicated its field staff to collecting vital census data across all 14 regions.

The census journey comprised the pre-enumeration, the enumeration phase, and the post-enumeration.

Housing provision remains a priority to the Kunene Regional Council, and it has made headway with the already-constructed houses for low-income earners at Okanguati, Sesfontein, and Fransfontein settlements.

The houses were built under the Kunene Regional Council decentralised build-together programme, which targets ultra- and low-income earners to have decent houses.

A lack of decent housing should be tackled at all ends and should not only be left to local authorities but must be on the national agenda.

This was said by the Chief Executive Officer of the City of Windhoek, Moses Matyayi, who stressed that the impact of flush flood-prone areas is one of the issues his office is looking into to alleviate.

Matyayi was a guest on our sister programme, One-On-One.

Matyayi said that the council has been able to put mechanisms in place and plans with the Disastrous Management Plan, which is a continuous discourse to find solutions.

Electrical, water, and sewer connections have been completed for ultra-low-income housing units built by the Omaruru Municipality.

The houses were built to accommodate families relocated in June this year from dilapidated single-quarter houses.

This was confirmed by Omaruru Chief Executive Officer, Valentines Shindongo, who said the 36 units have been fenced off and occupied by families.

Under the Build Together Programme, the new units are occupied at a cost of N$600 per month, with an option for the 36 prospective homeowners to purchase them for N$74,000 each.

Housing and land delivery for low-income earners in the Kunene Region, including the upgrading of the informal settlements, is taking shape.

At Khorixas, 445 plots were handed over to the residents of the Ada-||Naugu informal settlement to build their houses.

The allocated plots are for 1,025 applicants on a waiting list.

Of these, 56 are categorised for pensioners and 22 for people living with disabilities, while 104 are for the members of the Shack Dwellers Federation, all sold at N$15,00 per square metre.

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.

Housing demand continues to grow at Otavi, and the council has started with the upgrading of its three informal settlements, which were established as a result of illegal settlements.

Otavi Mayor Isaac !Hoaeb says they have started counting the zinc-structured houses for demarcation.

!Hoaeb says a total of 400 households have been enumerated at Kap n' Bou, 500 at Naruseb, and 600 at Harambee informal settlements.

A lack of housing remains a pressing issue for many Namibians, with high costs making it impossible for ordinary Namibians to qualify for land or conventional home loans.

The President of the Popular Democratic Movement, McHenry Venaani, says this has placed an even bigger strain on the poor, youth, and unemployed citizens, as there is no system to accommodate them.

Namibia is second to Dubai in skyrocketing house prices, something Venaani questioned considering Namibia’s low population and massive land.

Otjozondjupa Governor James Uerikua has called upon the local authorities to fast-track the delivery of land and housing for the men and women in uniform.

Uerikua made this call during the State of the Region Address at Otjiwarongo.

Lack of housing is the greatest challenge faced by men and women in uniform, as only a few have managed to acquire houses through various means.