04 Apr 2019

Government will continue to look for ways to facilitate affordable home ownership,  says Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development Mr Vincent Seretse.

Speaking at a press conference recently, Mr Seretse said one way of promoting home ownership was to adopt new building technologies, which he said were cheaper than the conventional brick and mortar.

“We only need mindset change and accept that houses built through other methods are also good," he said.

Meanwhile Mr Seretse has said from 2008/09 financial year to date, more than P258 million in loans had been extended to Batswana across the country for the development of more than 6 000 plots through the Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) programme.

He further stated that the ministry had assisted public officers  at D4 salary scale and below with subsidized loans to build houses.

So far, he added,  331 public officers had been assisted through the initiative since its introduction in 2014.

In line with the housing mandate, Minister Seretse said the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) was involved in many construction projects nationwide to give those willing to buy an opportunity to do so.

Mr Seretse said the corporation had an ambitious programme to deliver 8 000 housing units by 2023.

Regarding the mandate, Minister Seretse said it required the ministry to assist government to give Batswana dignity by among others, facilitating citizen housing ownership.

He said shortage of housing was a challenge not only for Botswana but for all countries across the globe.

Furthermore, Mr Seretse said over the years, government had built infrastructure for beneficial use by various ministries and departments.

He however said the budget allocated for the upkeep and maintenance of such facilities had been insufficient.

As a result, government was currently using old facilities that were not conducive for work, he said adding that the ministry together with stakeholders developed a long term facilities management strategy in 2016 to arrest the situation.

Mr Seretse said the strategy was premised on deploying an integrated management approach or model to ensure that government facilities were maintained at all times.

Also, he said, the strategy sought to involve the private sector in the maintenance of government facilities.

Minister Seretse however said implementation of the strategy had been hampered by lack of sustainable funding.

He said the ministry was therefore working on a funding model seeking to derive value from government buildings. ENDS