The Ongwediva Town Council has sold a private developer 62 erven at a low rate to construct houses at the town.

Shimdtco Property Developers was recently allocated land at a lower price in an effort to meet the housing demand the council is currently battling.

According to the council’s sale of the immovable properties to Shimdtco, an erf measuring about 507 square metres was sold at a mere N$8 873.50, while an erf measuring more than 600 square metres was sold at N$10 000.

The erven range from 300 square metres to over 1 000 square metres.

Ongwediva spokesperson Ottilie Shingenge says the council is busy rectifying the matter as there was an oversight from the council that needed to be corrected before commenting on the matter.

“Kindly take note that the sales of immovable properties notice needs to be rectified to include all required or needed information for the public. This is an oversight from the council, and we are busy rectifying the error,” she says.

She says these plots were sold at a reduced price because the area is not serviced.

“Residents need to know these erven are not serviced. The developer will have to service these plots by themselves. The sale of these erven has caused so much controversy among residents, which is why the council has decided to put everything on hold while we try to rectify the matter,” she says.

A total of 4 901 people are currently on the Ongwediva Town Council’s housing waiting list.

About 3 040 of the applicants are from the low-income earner category, 1 628 from the high-income earner category, and 233 fall in the middle-income earner category.

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