In an effort to accelerate housing development at its informal settlements, Outjo Municipality has started offering free water to low-income housing programmes for the duration of construction works.

Outjo Mayor Bartholomeus !Aibeb says this is part of the council's efforts to meet residents halfway to owning permanent brick-structure houses from shacks.

!Aibeb says the council is providing 1000 cubic metres of water to 300 selected households for a period of six months.

These are phase 1 projects under the Shack Dwellers Federation and Namibia Housing Action Group.

"There is a project going on in the informal settlement area whereby residents there receive cement and sand. So they need to build their own bricks, and then they have to replace the shacks to have brick houses. So in phase 1, 300 of such residents have been approved through this project from Windhoek, and they are currently busy; most of them have already built their houses through that project, and others are there. What the council did is it is very difficult for those living in the informal settlement to buy water and then also build, so the council decided to give around 1000 kilos of water, free of charge for every month."

To further complete progress of housing development, the mayor says the council is rectifying phase 1 of the water and sewer project to enable households to connect to the main pipeline installed in their streets.

"We will be having consultative meetings with everybody in front of whose house the water and sewer lines are passing. We need to start digging towards our houses, our ervens, so that we can have connections from the main lines or into the main lines for water and sewer. That is unfortunately phase one of the project, which has been done in that way. That one we are going to rectify on the basis of involving the community, because they must also take part in this project, because it's for themselves that is going to benefit through this process."

On-road works !Aibeb says upgrading of the gravel roads at the town will be attended to as soon as repairs on the municipal road equipment are completed.