By: Ketemba Tjipepa
A housing and construction exhibition aimed at tackling the housing crisis and mushrooming of shacks is slated for next month in Windhoek. According to media reports, close to one million Namibians live in shacks and most inhabitants do not have access to basic services such as water and toilets. With this in mind, a group of young Namibians came up with the construction and housing exhibition. The three day expo is scheduled to take place at the Ramatex garment factory in Windhoek from the 26th to 28th October. The Chairperson of the adventurous construction and housing exhibition Edison Uapingene, stated that the expo will serve to promote information sharing among all key players in the housing industry. “The exhibition will bring all those within the construction and property industry under one group, because these businesses were affected badly by Covid-19. The exhibition has a clear task to bridge the gap between potential property owners and property developers'', said Uapingene. According to the Bank of Namibia, commercial banks repossessed houses worth N$230 million in the first half of 2021, while the latest reported figures on the housing backlog stood over 300 000. The vice chairperson of adventurous construction and housing exhibition Duminga Ndala, stated that apart from exhibitors coming to showcase their products, there will be dialogues where stakeholders in the industry will share ideas on how they can deal with the problem of the housing crisis in the country. “There is a mushrooming of shacks in the country, around about 200 000 people in Namibia live in shacks.This will be an opportunity for them to engage and find amicable solutions and to negotiate how to deal with the problem of the mushrooming of shacks in the country”, says Ndala. The three-day mega property exhibition will be the second housing and construction exhibition to be held in Namibia.