But the housing, which benefits only those who are in the public service, is generally regarded as the poorest maintained in the country.

Julius Ngweda, Liaison Officer of the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, confirmed that tenants pay two per cent of their salary for bachelor flats and four per cent flats and houses with two or more bedroom.

This means that a person with a salary of N$5 000 who lives in a bachelor flat would pay about N$100 a month, and those who live in a bigger property would pay about N$200 monthly plus tax.

This is in comparison to the market-related rental costs of private companies that range from about N$1 500 for a bachelor flat to N$2 000 or more for a family flat or house.

Government has properties in almost all residential parts of Windhoek, with most of the housing properties located in Windhoek's prime areas.

When Nampa requested the figures of properties around Windhoek and the number of tenants, Ngweda could not provide numbers, allegedly because of an ineffective asset register.

He said the ministry is in the process of upgrading some properties while others have been sold off to tenants or turned into Government offices.

ONTEVREDEHOF Vredehof, a Government flat complex on Robert Mugabe Avenue in Eros, is in serious need of renovation.

The entrance has a broken wall the right side.

On the left lies what is supposed to have been a garbage-bin space where garbage is thrown in municipal bins, but the area has instead turned into a mini-dump.

Walls are dirty, scratched and have been written on; the ceilings have holes, which are visible from the ground floor.

There are broken windows, filth, garbage such as broken bottles, running water and a pile of burned papers in the electricity control room.

When Nampa visited the flats, two men were working on an overflowing sewerage pipe.

They said they lived in the flats and were trying to find the blockage in the pipe and clear it.

They said they were employed by the Ministry and were qualified plumbers.

The sewerage sprayed all over the floor in front of some of the occupants' flats.

Pads, faeces, paper decorated the floor.

They said they would use the fire hose to clean up, but these all have long since been stolen.

As they worked, Fabien David, who appeared to be the main plumber, agreed to be interviewed.

He said the Government gave subsidies to residents of the property.

David defended the tenants, claiming that low-income people stayed at the flats.

In his opinion, they try to keep it clean.

Nampa visited the flats days afterwards.

The sewerage waste had still not been cleaned up and had congealed.

NO QUICK FIXES The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication is in charge of maintaining these properties under the Directorate of Maintenance which is responsible for maintaining all government property, Ngweda confirmed.

The ministry said there were no regular upgrades of property and repairs were done only in urgent situations when the ministry was obliged to fix broken windows or leaks, but otherwise the occupants are the ones responsible for maintenance.

Confirming this, Ulrich Jankowski, a resident of Vredehof, working for the Ministry of Safety and Security said, "Works maintains the big items in the flats; the small stuff is taken care of by us (tenants)".

Jankowski said maintenance, which only includes the painting and repairing of broken windows and leakages within a flat, was done when a tenant moved.

The flat was inspected and repairs made before a new tenant moved in.

A Ministry employee, who did not want to be identified, agreed that the ministry does not maintain the properties and that tenants had to do their own upgrading or fixing and pay for them.

Nampa was informed by the ministry that rent money was used for the maintenance of properties, but was not sufficient for proper upgrades or renovations.

As a result, the ministry concentrated only on priority maintenance.

Ngweda said there was a housing inspector responsible in the ministry, but a lack of human resources made it impossible to go house to house.

REVIEWING THE SITUATION Ngweda said the ministry was aware of the state of Government property, but, "it is the responsibility of the tenants to keep the environment clean and tidy".

Jankowski said: "No one oversees the running of the flats".

According to Ngweda, the Government owns too much property to properly maintain all of them and was looking at ways to reduce the burden.

He said the ministry was also revising its rent rates as they were way below market-related prices.

If the ministry increased the prices, he said, it would make a difference because when people were given things for free they did not feel the need to maintain them.

The properties are seen as a burden on the Ministry and on Government as a whole.

Therefore, through Government's policy of alienation of properties, the Ministry was looking into selling most Government houses in big towns like Windhoek, Swakopmund, Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Rundu and Katima, said Ngweda.

He added that not all properties would be sold, especially those in small towns, such as Karasburg and Bethanie, where housing is needed for Government staff such as the Police and medical staff.

The ministry will also allocate some properties to other Ministries like the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Rehabilitation.

The housing would be used by imported foreign experts, such as doctors and nurses.

Ngweda said these plans would be put into effect towards the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006.

He said their first priority was to upgrade the asset register and record the current number of flats and tenants.

The ministry will use the services of the National Youth Service to draw up the registry because of a lack of funds and manpower.

- Nampa

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