EDITORIAL: Housing solution needs radical reform
The housing crisis haunting Namibia will continue to worsen unless we devise radical reforms, which include, among others, completely changing the mandate of the National Housing Enterprise (NHE).
The NHE's perennial underperformance and its inability to deliver on its mandate are primarily the reasons why the government has to depend on the private sector to solve the housing crisis.
But as we all know, the right to adequate housing is too crucial to be left to the forces of the private sector, which is more profit-driven.
All housing solutions proposed by the private sector have been profit-driven instead of having a social approach.
The crisis has given birth to speculators and developers who have thrived in the unregulated property market and who make millions while citizens continue to cry for houses.
At present, NHE is nothing more than a job creation scheme where workers are not taken to task for failing to execute their responsibilities. Last week’s vote that saw workers support a decision to go on strike over salary increment demands, is another classic example of how Namibia has become a state that rewards underperformance.
NHE is clearly not result-driven; it seems its main drive is to ensure that there is enough money in the bank to pay salaries, not to reduce the housing backlog, which is embarrassingly well in excess of 300 000.
The NHE's perennial underperformance and its inability to deliver on its mandate are primarily the reasons why the government has to depend on the private sector to solve the housing crisis.
But as we all know, the right to adequate housing is too crucial to be left to the forces of the private sector, which is more profit-driven.
All housing solutions proposed by the private sector have been profit-driven instead of having a social approach.
The crisis has given birth to speculators and developers who have thrived in the unregulated property market and who make millions while citizens continue to cry for houses.
At present, NHE is nothing more than a job creation scheme where workers are not taken to task for failing to execute their responsibilities. Last week’s vote that saw workers support a decision to go on strike over salary increment demands, is another classic example of how Namibia has become a state that rewards underperformance.
NHE is clearly not result-driven; it seems its main drive is to ensure that there is enough money in the bank to pay salaries, not to reduce the housing backlog, which is embarrassingly well in excess of 300 000.
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Namibian Sun
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