Isaac Pheko
29 August 2008
Francistown — The Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) is scheduled to build 575 houses in Francistown in the next financial year.
Deputy BHC chief executive officer, Milidzani Majingo told a Francistown city full council meeting yesterday that the development is meant to alleviate housing problems in the city.
"We will build 30 houses in Selepa and 545 in Gerald Estates," he said. He asserted that besides trying to resolve the accommodation problems, they want to empower Batswana.
"By so doing, we want to empower Batswana to be home owners. Last year alone, we sold 324 houses to Batswana," he added.
Majingo said that in the last three years, they have constructed 377 houses in Francistown. The BHC is currently renting out 1,609 houses in the city. Majingo said that they are looking at refurbishing some of the property in Francistown.
"The small houses near Minestone area cannot be developed while tenants are still staying inside and they are in bad condition," he said. He added that they plan to study the profile of the tenants before renting out houses.
Majingo said that BHC has managed to reduce arrears from P44 million to P3.5 million in about three years.
"In 2006, the arrears amounted to P44 million and by March 2007, they had reduced to P9.1 million and currently they are at P3.5 million," he stated. As far as rental is concerned, Majingo said that in 2004, the arrears stood at P18 million and currently they are at P6.4 million and they want to reduce the figure to P3 million.
He asserted that BHC intends to source new markets in Ghanzi, Serowe, and Tonota. He said President Ian Khama has encouraged BHC to extend its services to rural areas.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
