Municipality pulls down shoddy houses
Several prefabricated Mass Housing homes constructed by Delta Group Holdings (DGH) in Swakopmund are being demolished due to poor workmanship.
Reports quote urban and rural development minster Sophia Shaningwa on Friday saying the South African construction company will build 133 new houses at no extra cost.
Deputy minister Derek Klazen, who was in Walvis Bay on a personal visit this weekend, was due to visit the construction site yesterday.
It was agreed to demolish approximately 100 houses constructed with prefabricated material after quantity surveyors found out that they were not on standard.
The demolishing process commenced on Thursday after Swakopmund municipality design and building control manager Martin Amedick said he wrote a letter to the company's headquarters in South Africa informing it that the municipality was not happy with the standard of some of the houses.
“We instructed DGH to demolish parts of the houses they built and we will not issue occupation certificates for them. We originally gave the company permission to use this specific construction method in 2014. What they showed us back then was produced in their factory in South Africa. They tried to imitate the process locally in Namibia under poor supervision and with substandard quality.”
Swakopmund municipality spokesperson Aili Gebhardt concurred with Amedick and said she was aware of the fact that some of the houses constructed are being demolished since they are not of good quality.
“I can unfortunately not give you an indication on the number of houses that must be demolished due to the substandard quality. Mass housing falls under the ministry with the municipality being responsible for providing the land. Our building inspectors have to check on the quality of the houses being constructed. The municipality does not just hand over land for construction purposes. There are a set of standards that need to be adhered to.”
Efforts to contact representatives of DGH based in Swakopmund proved futile.
OTIS FINCK
Reports quote urban and rural development minster Sophia Shaningwa on Friday saying the South African construction company will build 133 new houses at no extra cost.
Deputy minister Derek Klazen, who was in Walvis Bay on a personal visit this weekend, was due to visit the construction site yesterday.
It was agreed to demolish approximately 100 houses constructed with prefabricated material after quantity surveyors found out that they were not on standard.
The demolishing process commenced on Thursday after Swakopmund municipality design and building control manager Martin Amedick said he wrote a letter to the company's headquarters in South Africa informing it that the municipality was not happy with the standard of some of the houses.
“We instructed DGH to demolish parts of the houses they built and we will not issue occupation certificates for them. We originally gave the company permission to use this specific construction method in 2014. What they showed us back then was produced in their factory in South Africa. They tried to imitate the process locally in Namibia under poor supervision and with substandard quality.”
Swakopmund municipality spokesperson Aili Gebhardt concurred with Amedick and said she was aware of the fact that some of the houses constructed are being demolished since they are not of good quality.
“I can unfortunately not give you an indication on the number of houses that must be demolished due to the substandard quality. Mass housing falls under the ministry with the municipality being responsible for providing the land. Our building inspectors have to check on the quality of the houses being constructed. The municipality does not just hand over land for construction purposes. There are a set of standards that need to be adhered to.”
Efforts to contact representatives of DGH based in Swakopmund proved futile.
OTIS FINCK
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