PORT ELIZABETH - NELSON MANDELA BAY METRO FINALLY DELIVERS HOUSING

The stabilizing of governance and administrative systems within Nelson Mandela Bay's human settlements department is beginning to yield results.

The Housing Development Agency is running the project with a number of contractors to meet housing targets with strict performance compliance.

The Minister of Human Settlements Lindiwe Sisulu visited Walmer Township to take stock of the progress.

This is the first project to be undertaken since the national human settlements intervention in the metro last year.

To date over 3000 houses have been built since.

“I have been waiting for a long time now and I am happy I have got a house, very, very happy,” says one recipient.

“The quality is right, it is perfect I have no complaints about it, but we were waiting for a long time,” says another.

Boosting housing delivery in the Bay was the additional R500 million made available by National Treasury earlier this year to speed up the process.

The houses are part of the R4.6 billion set aside by Minister Lindiwe Sisulu to be spent over three years in the Metro for housing.

“The reason why we had slowed down in delivery is because 50% of money allocated for housing was spent on rectification of housing so if you take 50% of what should be building houses that year, you can imagine the shortage and the people on the waiting list while we rectify what we have done wrong,” says Sisulu.

VIA - sabc.co.za