President of the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), McHenry Venaani on Wednesday gave the government 25 days to allocate the 890 unoccupied houses constructed under the mass housing programme at Walvis Bay or face a mass demonstration.

Venaani in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said it has been seven years since the houses were half or fully built adding that beneficiaries on the list should not wait for such a long time to be allocated the much-needed houses.

The PDM leader then asked how Kuugongelwa-Amadhila and other senior government officials go to a peaceful sleep in their houses while knowing that thousands of people in the country need houses.

He then attributed the daily growth of the informal settlements in the country to the government’s failure in addressing the issue of the lack of decent and affordable brick houses with potable water, electricity and flush toilets.

“Therefore, this ongoing housing crisis in the country reliably informs us that the government of the day has no political will to finally resolve the housing issue, while it has means and tools to do so,” he charged.

He thus said in within 25 days from Wednesday, the government should start to allocate the 890 houses to beneficiaries or otherwise, his members and those progressive Namibians would stage a mass demonstration calling on the government to give people decent houses.

Venaani said since many people in the country own shack houses, it also means that a lot of them are battling the unbearable cold of this year’s winter season which is unacceptable as owning a decent house in Namibia is a constitutional right.

The government’s mass housing programme was started in 2013 by former President Hifikepunye Pohamba, whose aim was to address the country’s critical housing needs in the country.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency