House sales a boon for Works

THE sale of vacant Government houses has become a major source of income for the Works and Transport Ministry, Minister Helmut Angula said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Motivating the Works Ministry’s budget for the current financial year, Angula said that 857 houses have been sold countrywide since the start of the programme in 1998, for N$160,5 million.
An average of ten deeds of sale are currently being finalised on a monthly basis, he said.
In the 2008/9 financial year, the ministry sold 102 houses, generating income of N$13,64 million.
The sale scheme has enabled the Works Ministry to contribute almost N$118 million to the State Revenue Fund from 2004 to 2006. Another N$21, million has been spent on the construction of housing for Police officers over the same period.
Minister Angula said the extra revenue was also being used to upgrade various Government flat complexes in Windhoek, which have often been criticised for their dilapidated condition.
The Works department, through the sale of Government houses, has started renovating these complexes to the tune of N$11 million.
‘I must admit that maintenance of Government properties is becoming more challenging every year due to the ever-increasing cost of building material because of annual price escalation and inflation, while budgetary resources available remain limited to growth rate in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country,’ he said.
With new buildings and infrastructure added to its existing asset portfolio every year, Angula said the state’s required expenditure on the maintenance of these properties was increasing by N$15 million per year. Angula requested N$481,4 million for the Department of Works for the current financial year.