Africa-Press – Namibia. NEARLY N$490 million has been set aside to fund the construction of housing.
Erastus Uutoni, the minister of urban and rural development, made this claim when he asked lawmakers to accept the budget allocation of nearly N$1.8 billion given to the ministry during his budget presentation statement.
This entails allocating funds to local governments, regional councils, and other stakeholders to carry out capital projects that will lead to the development of basic municipal infrastructure and services and their accessibility, as well as the improvement of opportunities for scaling up the provision of housing, land tenure security, and improved sanitary conditions.
He added that they have allocated N$10 million from this year’s budget for the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia as part of their ongoing commitment to the supply of serviced urban land and housing, particularly for the ultra-low and low income groups. (SDFN).
He said that the Ministry was able to declare 14 new townships and serviced 3 174 plots, thanks to the joint investment and efforts of the Central, Regional, and Local Government, Government Agencies, and the private sector.
The construction of a total of 558 housing units, which were constructed by different stakeholders and programs, was also documented.
According to Uutoni, the National Housing Policy of 2009 was reviewed during the time under consideration, and a corresponding Implementation Strategy was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission.
“The Policy and the Implementation Plan, which includes the Informal Settlement Upgrading Strategy, are anticipated to be finished during the fiscal year 2023/2024,” he said.
Additionally, Uutoni indicated that they have started a business process re-engineering initiative with the Ministry in charge of Land Reform/Deeds Registration, the Council of Regional and Town Planners, in order to review, streamline, and simplify the procedure for establishing townships and approving the disposal of urban land in the nation.
Uutoni added that despite known difficulties like resource shortages and high input costs, they are unwavering in their resolve to address the backlog in serviced urban land, housing, and the accessibility of fundamental infrastructure to their people, particularly the ultra-low and low income groups.
In this regard, he said they will continue to carry out a number of interventions, which constitute a significant portion of their development budget, to ensure the availability of fundamental municipal infrastructure and services, as well as the provision of housing in the nation.
He emphasized that ongoing interventions in urban and regional planning, land servicing, and support for housing development initiatives carried out by the Ministry, Regional Councils, Local Authorities, as well as community-based housing organizations will receive priority from the budget allocation.
According to him, the provision of basic municipal services, affordable housing, and improving tenure security, particularly in informal settlements, will be the main focus of their interventions on land delivery.
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