Marginalised community gets houses without toilets
KENYA KAMBOWE
NKURENKURU
The government has built 33 corrugated-iron houses for a marginalised community in the Kavango West Region at a cost of over N$1.4 million, but the homes have no bathrooms or toilets.
The homes were built at Nkurenkuru Extension 5, Siurungu and Mayara villages to benefit about 100 people.
Water was only provided at Nkurenkuru Extension 5, where three communal taps were installed.
Gender equality, poverty eradication and child welfare minister Doreen Sioka handed over the houses on Friday.
The minister acknowledged the absence of toilets and described the communities as living in a desperate situation, having to relieve themselves in the veld.
The lack of toilets has been attributed to limited resources.
The government built the houses after the shocking living conditions of the communities were exposed in the media.
Funds breakdown
Sioka said the ministry collaborated with the office of the prime minister, which approved N$500 000 for the construction of the houses.
Sioka said her ministry allocated a further N$454 000 for materials. Labour costs totalled to N$369 000, which brought the total spend on the project to N$1.4 million.
Suffering of the marginalised
Sioka said the community’s hardship must be addressed.
“The ministry has established numerous challenges that the community members encounter, such as community members lacking national identity documentation because most of them never obtained, which is a very major challenge as it brings about exclusion from national social protection programmes and assistance,” Sioka said.
“These communities are food insecure, mostly depend on group members who carry out casual work such as washing clothes, raking yards, pounding mahangu, fetching water for other households amongst other activities for income subject to the availability of the casual work,” she said.
It was announced that Nored would electrify the 33 homes before June 2021.
[email protected]
NKURENKURU
The government has built 33 corrugated-iron houses for a marginalised community in the Kavango West Region at a cost of over N$1.4 million, but the homes have no bathrooms or toilets.
The homes were built at Nkurenkuru Extension 5, Siurungu and Mayara villages to benefit about 100 people.
Water was only provided at Nkurenkuru Extension 5, where three communal taps were installed.
Gender equality, poverty eradication and child welfare minister Doreen Sioka handed over the houses on Friday.
The minister acknowledged the absence of toilets and described the communities as living in a desperate situation, having to relieve themselves in the veld.
The lack of toilets has been attributed to limited resources.
The government built the houses after the shocking living conditions of the communities were exposed in the media.
Funds breakdown
Sioka said the ministry collaborated with the office of the prime minister, which approved N$500 000 for the construction of the houses.
Sioka said her ministry allocated a further N$454 000 for materials. Labour costs totalled to N$369 000, which brought the total spend on the project to N$1.4 million.
Suffering of the marginalised
Sioka said the community’s hardship must be addressed.
“The ministry has established numerous challenges that the community members encounter, such as community members lacking national identity documentation because most of them never obtained, which is a very major challenge as it brings about exclusion from national social protection programmes and assistance,” Sioka said.
“These communities are food insecure, mostly depend on group members who carry out casual work such as washing clothes, raking yards, pounding mahangu, fetching water for other households amongst other activities for income subject to the availability of the casual work,” she said.
It was announced that Nored would electrify the 33 homes before June 2021.
[email protected]
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