Uutoni commits needed support in access to affordable housing

Share This Article:

Urban and Rural Development Minister Erastus Uutoni, has assured the public that government will continue to provide the needed support to families to acquire shelter, access affordable land and benefit from infrastructural development in informal settlements.

Uutoni made the remarks on Monday while handing over one of the 131 houses constructed so far under the Informal Settlement Upgrading Affordable Housing Pilot Project in Okuryangava Windhoek.

He said government through the line ministry has achieved its goal of delivering 200 houses in phase one since the project was launched in July 2020.

Uutoni called on all local authorities to undertake similar affordable urban land and housing delivery in their localities through initiatives such as the Build Together housing scheme and partnerships with like-minded private and community organisations such as the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN).

‘Government is ongoing to grant funding to the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia, the rolling of the flexible land tenure programme which confers land hold ownership in a simpler way and also empowers and enables members of the community to mobilise resources and build their homes at their own pace and according to their affordability levels. While the formal processes of land ownership registration and transfers are underway,’ said Uutoni.

He added that there is a need for improved coordination and a collaborative approach among stakeholders in the sector of delivering affordable houses, and the need has become even more important in the face of obvious increased challenges of low economic growth and reduced fiscal space which have been worsened by the huge negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘I wish to thank those members of the public who have already signed up to the Project, which offers a viable solution, and I call on and encourage others in Windhoek to come on board. As a ministry, we are also pursuing and implementing other complementing interventions to scale up and accelerate access to tenure security, proper sanitation and housing,’ stated Uutoni.

One of the beneficiaries Nelao Haihambo, said she is grateful to government and everybody involved in the project, and urged the minister to keep the project going in order to further benefit other Namibians who are in need of proper houses.

Source: Namibia Press Agency