The department will be introducing the Housing on Wheels Project aimed at improving accessibility of housing delivery services to the public and strengthen public participation in housing delivery. The truck will raise public awareness on housing programme, products and services in various areas of the province.
Information on housing programmes and services will be available to assist people who want to apply for any housing programme. Other services available include housing subsidy system, registration of veterans, beneficiary workshops, information stalls manned by officials from the department. Beneficiaries will be informed about progress on their applications for houses. Military veterans needing registration will be captured on database and demand database educating people about requirements for housing registration will created to capture applicants on departmental database for people needing housing assistance.
Municipalities will also be able to access information to check status on housing projects and approval of projects.
The Housing on Wheels Project is pilot project that will run in three phases during the current financial year. The first phase will start in Tarkastad where the provincial government, led by Premier Noxolo Kiviet and MEC Nombulelo Mabandla will hand over five houses to farm workers and shack dwellers who have been working and residing on Tarkastad farms. The second phase will be in October and the last phase in February 2010. The project is expected to help thousands of people who need housing assistance in the province.
The truck will be launched during the hand over of houses in Tarkastad on 3 July 2009. From there the truck will be available in all the areas to be visited during the Exco outreach including Nelson Mandela Metro, Ukhahlamba, Cacadu, O R Tambo, Alfred Nzo, Chris Hani, Makana and Amathole Municipalities. The programme ends on 22 July in Amathole district. The truck will visit other areas until the end of the financial year in February next year.
About five dwellers who reside in Zola (back yards) and other surrounding areas and farms will become home owners for the first time, benefiting from efforts by the department to provide shelter and de-densification of Zola location which was crowded by shacks and congested homes due to growing numbers of the families.
The houses built in this area are 40 m2 with two bedrooms, toilet and living room with open plan kitchen. After unblocking of the project improvements were made where roof structure (0.3 mm thick roof sheet to 0.5 mm thickness)and external doors and doors (pine door to meranti door weather proof) were altered.
“This has brought some decency in this houses as we have taken an initiative to bring improvements so that we cannot talk of RDP houses and more rather homes to the homeless and that goes with quality,” MEC Nombulelo Mabandla said.
The media is invited to capture the launch and hand over of houses in Tarkastad on 3 July 2009 starting at 10h00.
Enquiries contact:
Mr Lwandile Sicwetsha
Marketing, Media and Communications
Cell: 071 671 1770
Tel: 043 722 9534
Fax: 086 645 2757
Issued by: Department of Housing, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
29 June 2009
