Govt houses in Karas in bad shape: Governor

THE Ministry of Works and Transport is ‘turning a blind eye’ to the poor state of Government houses in Karas, Karas Governor Dawid Boois said yesterday.

Boois said the Karas Regional Council has on numerous occasions called on the Ministry to settle the bad state of affairs, but nothing had happened.’Is the Works Ministry serious about providing proper housing to civil servants?’ Boois asked. ‘Or maybe the ministry does not want the properties anymore,’ he added. Boois made these remarks at the council’s ordinary meeting. According to Boois, the Works Minister and his deputy had been informed of the state of houses in Karas during their visits to the region. Councillors supported Boois, expressing concern over the poor state of State houses in the region and the subletting of these houses.They proposed decentralising the ministry’s activities to solve the problems.The Regional Head of the Works Ministry, Frederick Hoëseb, said his ministry is not solely responsible for Government houses. ‘We have assigned houses to different ministries and they are fully responsible if a house is in need of renovation. The Works Ministry is only responsible for pool houses and general maintenance of all Government houses,’ Hoëseb said in response to Boois’s remarks. Hoëseb added that the ministries are also responsible for paying rates and taxes and water and electricity bills for the houses assigned to them. He said 101 Government houses are assigned to different ministries at Keetmanshoop alone. At Karasburg, 26 of the 27 Government houses are assigned to ministries and at Lüderitz 16 out of 31.According to Hoëseb, the Ministry has decided not to sell houses at towns where there are few Government houses. To date 21 houses have been sold to tenants under Government’s alienation scheme, Hoëseb noted.Works and Transport Minister Helmut Angula is expected to meet the Karas Regional Council today. – luqman@namibian.com.na