Africa-Press – Botswana. There is an urgent need for the private sector to help government understand the causes of housing projects failures and assist in developing the relevant policies, says Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mr Eric Molale.
Addressing the housing pitso in Gaborone Thursday, he said it was unfortunate that government was losing millions in housing projects that were not delivered on time, not sustainable and not affordable either for those who wanted to buy or rent.
All loopholes must be removed for the private sector to accordingly assist government in providing housing, he stated.
“There are endless opportunities, the only challenge is how we relate.
There was no need for someone to focus on getting accolades for delivering a housing project within budget and on time whereas it is of poor quality.
How do we approve housing projects that we never supervised and inspected only for our people to waste their hard earned money, exhaust their savings on something that will serve no purpose,” he said.
Mr Molale said for the private sector to succeed, all factors contributing to government’s failure to provide sustainable and affordable should be addressed.
Challenges related to securing land, bureaucratic processes, failure to adhere to laid down procedures and policies and difficulties in getting mortgages must be dealt with, he said.
Mr Molale singled out what he termed the adopted work culture of lack of productivity as a major obstacle to service delivery.
“We must understand that it is a problem of our work ethic that we are still stuck where we are even though having relevant policies to fully implement,” said the minister.
Mr Molale said 10 000 houses for teachers and about 5 000 houses for other central government employees were needed but with the prevailing work ethic, it was near impossible to meet such demand.
“At the rate at which we are going, we cannot achieve that,” he said.
The minister said lack of adherence to policies, supervision, accountability and poor communication were the order of the day.
“We must hold people accountable when they do not perform. Let us do what is right for our own good,” he said.
He lamented that appropriate building technologies had been introduced but acceptance and implementation remained a challenge.
Minister Molale said the pitso must come up with resolutions that could assist in rectifying all wrongs outlined to ensure that people bought affordable and durable houses.
Informed by the pitso resolutions and feedback from the private sector, he said his next stop would be cabinet to point out areas of the housing policy that needed changing.
“The resolutions of the housing pitso will be used in finalising the draft of the housing policy. I am ready for NGOs to come forward and contribute effectively,” he said.
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