31 Aug 2015

Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) has handed over 21 SHHA Turnkey projects to Maun East and West constituencies.

Speaking during the handing over, BHC chief executive officer, Mr Reginald Motswaiso said initially, the corporation was expected to construct 34 houses to SHHA beneficiaries; 17 per constituency.

Of the said number, only 21 houses were completed, one was withdrawn; five houses will be completed and handed over next week.

He said the remaining seven houses would be completed by end of this month.

In Ngami and Okavango constituencies, he revealed, were given 32 houses and all were in various stages of completion and would be handed over to beneficiaries before the end of next month.

He said the corporation’s role was not only to oversee the construction of the houses and ensure delivery to rightful beneficiaries, but to also facilitate local contractors to participate meaningfully in the economic development of the country.

Mr Motswaiso noted that was done in line with government efforts towards Citizen Economic Empowerment, which is aimed at encouraging and promoting participation of citizen contractors in the country’s economic activities.

He said it was regrettable that some of the contractors engaged to undertake the projects did not perform accordingly, which resulted in major delays.

In addition, he explained that the corporation subscribes to quality standards in the construction of houses, hence close monitoring and supervision by building inspectors during the construction.

Mr Motswaiso urged the beneficiaries to occupy the houses immediately so that they could identify defects  so that the contractor could attend to them within the six months defects liability period.

He however noted that the implementation of the projects had not been easy as the corporation experienced major setbacks due to flaws on the part of the initial contractor. ENDS