First Houses, Not Toilets

I WOULD like to share my concerns and views regarding housing needs in Namibia.
Namibia is a small developing nation, with a very small population and very rich in natural resources. Our future as Namibians is supposed to be bright but our government is failing us.

The leadership is good but some in the management system are weak and incompetent. Most government departments are not delivering due to incompetent human resources and corruption. Of course, we cannot stop corruption but we can do more, and better, towards becoming a great southern African state.Since the colonial days poor Namibians have suffered severely from lack of housing, discrimination, apartheid and poor income. Not much has changed 22 years after independence. One can say it has gotten worse. We still have informal areas countrywide, were Namibians are living in poverty and yet the government is reluctant to put these housing problems to an end or address it reasonably.We know of the Build Together programme, which the Minister of Housing, Jerry Ekandjo, wants to eliminate, giving the reason that it’s not successful as some towns only develop two houses per year and use the funds for other projects. It will be a big mistake if the minister scraps the Build Together programme without an alternative solution which will deliver faster results.There are local authorities such as the Swakopmund municipality where this programme is successful and truly solving the housing problems of the urban poor. Because certain local authorities cannot deliver as expected does not mean that the programme is failing as an initiative.Was there a study done? And what were the findings and proposed recommendations to improve the Build Together system. Were the successful local authorities requested to share their successful procedures and steps with the failing authorities? Does the Build Together programme have standard procedures to be followed or can any local authority adapt its own.The fact is that the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) is not a solution and will never work out and therefore the Minister must never scrap the Build Together programme, as it’s in the interest of the urban poor.I believe our government does not know how to prioritise important needs when budgeting. Our government does too much talking, [rather] than action. Since independence we have been hearing poverty reduction and alleviation but to date, 22 years on, we are still sitting with the same problem, and poverty is not being reduced but is increasing instead.How about the government starting with the development of high rise apartments to replace informal structures in informal area and lease them at very cheap prices not aimed at cost recovery.Why is the government wasting funds on public toilets in rural and informal areas? There is no need for public toilets in rural areas as [for] 80 years people in rural areas were doing fine without these toilets, and are still doing fine without them. They already have their own. How can the government build a toilet for someone without a house and these toilets are so expensive nowadays that their price is almost the same as a bedroom. Why can’t the government build single rooms for those in informal areas with a requirement that all the owner can do is build a toilet for him/her self in order to move in.Ben ShigwedhaBy e-mail