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Thursday, February 22, 2001 - Web posted at 7:16:36 AM GMT NHE cracks down on Goreangab defaulters THE National Housing Enterprise (NHE) has started to crack down on 261 loan defaulters by evicting the first four families from the Goreangab area in Katutura yesterday. The NHE gave the families loans at low interest rates to help them buy plots at Goreangab and Okuryangava, but many never managed to repay the debt. The total amount owed by defaulters is over N$2,5 million. NHE spokesperson Jonathan Sam said most families had failed to pay their loan instalments for six months or more. Others had not paid anything at all since 1993 when the plots were sold to them. As a result their sales contracts with the NHE have been cancelled. The low cost housing provider intends to build houses on the plots to sell to other interested parties on the waiting list. Sam said the NHE had obtained 55 eviction orders which would be executed on a four-a-day basis, while the rest of the defaulters will be evicted once more eviction orders were obtained." "Today's [Wednesday] process went smoothly and we hope that Friday's evictions will go the same way," he said. NHE told the families in advance to dismantle their shacks themselves and provided them with transport to new erven. The shacks of those who refuse to co-operate will be removed by force. NHE Chief Executive Officer Mike Kavekotora said defaulters were invited to settle their arrears, but only a small number responded. Those being evicted are being resettled at Plot 2326 in Okuryangava where they can lease Municipal land at a maximum fee of N$60 a month. Kavekotora said the Municipality had so far reserved 37 erven for families evicted by the NHE. Apart from owing arrears on their NHE housing loans, defaulters were in debt with the Municipality for their water, rates and electricity accounts. Sam said once people had been evicted from the Goreangab plots, the NHE would start moving defaulters at Okuryangava. The NHE had held several meetings with community leaders to discuss the plight of the families and several options had been considered. However, the NHE management had made it clear that people had been given enough time to make arrangements for payment and emphasised that the plots would be used to build houses for other people on their waiting list. The families were originally moved from the Katutura Single Quarters in 1992 to allow for the reno VAT ion of Single Quarters buildings. The NHE had offered the families loans at low interest rates to enable them to buy plots at Okuryangava, Goreangab and Greenwell Matongo. Of all the NHE's clients, the clients of the 'Oshatotwa project', as the project at Goreangab and Okuryangava is known, have the poorest record of repayment. At the time they signed the sales contracts, their monthly instalments were about N$40 for an erf of an average subsidised price of N$3 000. Kavekotora said the loans were financed with funds made available by the German government on the strict condition that the loans be repaid to create a revolving fund so that other clients could be helped to acquire houses. Most defaulters say they are unable to pay their instalments because they are unemployed. Others maintain that when they were moved from the Katutura Single Quarters they were promised free plots by Government. The NHE made it clear that Government did not make any such promise and that the families knew that they were buying plots from the NHE. |
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