Monday, September 22, 2008

Nearly 20,000 EC houses identified as defective

NEARLY 20,000 houses in the Eastern Cape have been identified as defective, Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has told the National Council of Provinces.

Replying to a written question from Watty Watson (DA), the minister said that 19953 houses that had been built in the Eastern Cape were defective, with 150 units at “various states of completion”. The total cost of repairing the houses is about R99,7-million.

Sisulu said provincial housing departments had initiated a process to determine the number of housing units with building defects.

Various methodologies such as surveys and requests for beneficiary applications had been used to determine the projects involved and the number of units with defects that needed to be repaired.

The services of the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) were being used “to ensure that the same contractor who initially built the units, is not appointed to do the rectification and that contractors appointed adhere to the necessary requirements”.

She said the verification process to date had revealed a number of projects with some sub-standard workmanship and the findings had been forwarded to the relevant provincial departments “for further investigation”.

- The Herald

No comments: