Omusati teachers' housing in limbo
The termination of a contract to construct teachers' homes in Omusati Region now lies at the High Court while the schools wait in vain.
The education ministry is waiting on the High Court's decision to decide what is to be done regarding the 34 housing units for teachers that are still not completed in the Omusati Region since 2013.
The education ministry's permanent secretary, Sanet Steenkamp told Namibian Sun that the ministry terminated the tender after the contractor Tandii Trading failed to complete the N$18.6-million project on time.
According to information obtained by Namibian Sun Tandii Trading was given a tender to construct an unspecified number of teachers' houses at various schools in the Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions. The ministry could not provide a clear answer if the unfinished houses are only in Omusati or also in other regions.
Namibian Sun was unable to get comment from Tandii Trading, but it is reported that the company took the matter to court after the ministry terminated their contract and allegedly refused to compensate them for the 95% of the work done. The ministry is of the view that the company breached the contract by not finishing the work on time.
It is reported that this tender was managed from the ministry's head office in Windhoek as the Omusati Education Directorate was not consulted about the project.
“This tender was subsequently terminated by the ministry after Tandii Trading cc fail to complete the work within the stipulated timeframe.
All these 34 houses throughout the Omusati Region's schools are standing at 95% completion,” Steenkamp said. “The matter is currently in court and until such a time that judgement is delivered, we cannot do anything to resolve that matter.”
School principals, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they don't know what is going on with the construction, as they were not given any role in the project, and they were never informed when the construction of the houses is expected to be completed.
“We were only tasked to identify the housing locations, which we did in conjunction with traditional authorities, and that is where our engagement with contractor and the regional office of education ended.
“The construction has been on and off, but nobody asked us about the progress. For a year now, the contractor has not visited the site. We don't know the status of the houses, as to what is missing, when they are expected to finish and when they are expected to be handed over to us.
There has been no regular communication from the regional office to us on the matter,” the principals said.
They added that the housing project had been welcomed as being of paramount importance to their schools, as housing is very challenging in remote areas, because whenever they are recruiting, the first thing potential teachers ask them is if accommodation is available.
“This is the reason why schools in remote areas are only full of unqualified teachers.
Qualified teachers are going to schools in town or where there are accommodations. Even the qualified teachers we had have transferred to those schools.”
ILENI NANDJATO
The education ministry's permanent secretary, Sanet Steenkamp told Namibian Sun that the ministry terminated the tender after the contractor Tandii Trading failed to complete the N$18.6-million project on time.
According to information obtained by Namibian Sun Tandii Trading was given a tender to construct an unspecified number of teachers' houses at various schools in the Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions. The ministry could not provide a clear answer if the unfinished houses are only in Omusati or also in other regions.
Namibian Sun was unable to get comment from Tandii Trading, but it is reported that the company took the matter to court after the ministry terminated their contract and allegedly refused to compensate them for the 95% of the work done. The ministry is of the view that the company breached the contract by not finishing the work on time.
It is reported that this tender was managed from the ministry's head office in Windhoek as the Omusati Education Directorate was not consulted about the project.
“This tender was subsequently terminated by the ministry after Tandii Trading cc fail to complete the work within the stipulated timeframe.
All these 34 houses throughout the Omusati Region's schools are standing at 95% completion,” Steenkamp said. “The matter is currently in court and until such a time that judgement is delivered, we cannot do anything to resolve that matter.”
School principals, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they don't know what is going on with the construction, as they were not given any role in the project, and they were never informed when the construction of the houses is expected to be completed.
“We were only tasked to identify the housing locations, which we did in conjunction with traditional authorities, and that is where our engagement with contractor and the regional office of education ended.
“The construction has been on and off, but nobody asked us about the progress. For a year now, the contractor has not visited the site. We don't know the status of the houses, as to what is missing, when they are expected to finish and when they are expected to be handed over to us.
There has been no regular communication from the regional office to us on the matter,” the principals said.
They added that the housing project had been welcomed as being of paramount importance to their schools, as housing is very challenging in remote areas, because whenever they are recruiting, the first thing potential teachers ask them is if accommodation is available.
“This is the reason why schools in remote areas are only full of unqualified teachers.
Qualified teachers are going to schools in town or where there are accommodations. Even the qualified teachers we had have transferred to those schools.”
ILENI NANDJATO
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