Princess informal settlement’s residents have been waiting for 15 years for promised houses, but all in vain.
Then in 2011 Council indicated that work would start shortly but the project froze. According to Councillor Gert Niemand, who also attended the handing over of the project to Group 5, the Council’s excuse was “a lack of funds”.
In 2013 the site for the development was cleared but the project came to a grinding halt again in July.
The residents’ demands for housing caused sporadic protests and riots, and MMC for Housing, Dan Bovu promised that work would start in February. Unfortunately due to the rainy season the project could not gain momentum but on 12 March work finally started with the first phase of piling the ground.
Solomon Medupe from the Department of Housing, who oversees the project, told the Record that it should be finished by August 2014 provided that there are no more serious disruptions such as floods.
For the full article and to find out what piling is, read next week’s edition of the Record.
