NHE slammed for Gobabis land deal

Namibia’s financially-challenged housing parastatal is facing criticism over a decision to buy land in Gobabis from an intermediary for almost double the price it would have paid if it had dealt directly with the municipality.Despite being allocated the property at a discount, the private firm - Eagle Focus Investments CC – didn’t pay a cent for the land; instead, the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) carried that N$3 million burden.The land, measuring 25 280 square metres, consists of 50 plots in the Epako suburb of Gobabis. NHE plans to build 50 houses that will be sold for prices ranging from N$369 253 to N$723 550.These details are contained in a report prepared by NHE’s senior manager of technical services and property management, Nicolas Hibbert, last June.It indicates that, on top of the N$3 million spent to buy the plots from Eagle Focus, NHE will spend an additional N$19.3 million to construct houses on the plots, bringing the total spending on the project to N$22.3 million.The houses will be sold for a combined N$22.8 million.‘Fair and reasonable’Information at hand also indicates that NHE did not conduct any valuation before paying for the land, but instead relied on average prices in the nearby vicinity.The enterprise feels, despite no valuation being conducted, that it paid a “fair and reasonable price”.The Gobabis municipality initially wanted N$1.7 million for the land, but NHE ended up paying about N$3.1 million because it had to pay Eagle Focus N$1.3 million on top of the municipality’s asking price – which was a discounted rate Eagle Focus was supposed to pay for the land.The land initially cost N$2.3 million, but the municipality decided to give the private firm a cushy discount of N$562 000.NHE insiders said the land was bought from the private developer despite it still being owned by the municipality.Eagles Focus came into existence when its predecessor, Eagle Customs Clearance, morphed into a property development firm, amongst other commercial activities. The entity’s sole shareholder is Ambrosius Shetunyenga.It appears NHE will only recover the money it spent on purchasing the land, instead of making a profit.The parastatal has not responded to requests for comment, while Shetunyenga directed all media queries to the Gobabis municipality.Land troublesAccording to Hibbert’s report, NHE’s quest to secure land in Gobabis hit a brick wall after the entity was told that all available serviced land had already been allocated and/or sold to private individuals or private partnerships.“NHE, on a visit to Gobabis to inspect and assess the suitability of the plots, held a meeting with the Gobobis municipality to see if plots could be sourced directly from the town council,” it said.“This would relate to a price per square metre (m²) of N$124.61m², or approximately N$61 000 per plot. No specific valuation was done, but the estimated valuation of fully serviced plots in the area is approximately N$80 000 to N$90 000.“The price offered by the developer was considered fair and reasonable by infrastructure development,” the report read.NHE finalised the purchase with Eagle Focus, despite the latter not paying a cent for the land from the municipality, it added.“Eagle Focus did not see their way clear to undergo the cost of planning a third time, thus the offer of on-sale to NHE to cover their costs - land as well as professional fees incurred.”It further states: “It is assumed that... the N$1.3 million is above the valuation, but this is not the case. The valuation is expected to be in the region of N$4.1 million and the price of N$3,061,393.87 is still considered as fair and reasonable”.Kid glovesEagle Focus seems to enjoy favourable treatment from the Gobabis municipality, insiders said. It received two portions of land prior to the NHE deal, both of which it returned without developing.Information at hand suggests that the land was returned to the municipality in order to be sold to another party, while in another allocation, land was returned to the municipality after it was allegedly invaded by squatters.

NHE slammed for Gobabis land deal

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Namibian Sun 2024-12-17

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NHE slammed for Gobabis land deal

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Namibian Sun 2024-12-17

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