GEORGE NEWS - Nine houses received new owners at the Metro Grounds Housing Project last week. This brings the total amount of houses handed over to beneficiaries, to 47.
Once the project is finished, 436 homes will be occupied at Metro Grounds.
"Beneficiaries for the Metro Grounds Housing Project have been taken from the Housing Demand Database," said Wendy Mentor, Acting Deputy Director: Human Settlements. "The beneficiaries are selected from those who have been on the waiting list for longest time, those who are 60 years and older, disabled, farm workers, and persons residing in Informal Settlements."
Portfolio Cllr Jean Saffers said they are just as happy with the families that received their homes. "The era of leaking roofs and washing in old fashioned wash basins is now a thing of the past,” said Saffers. He said a lot of these people come from difficult circumstances and their new homes could not have come at a better time.
“I think there is no better feeling than to own an asset and to be able to leave something behind for your loved ones. A home is something to be proud of and I am sure that the new home-owners will look after theirs,” said Saffers.
Testimonies
Jennifer Davids, one of the beneficiaries, said she could not be happier. “I lived in a back yard dwelling and struggled with a leaking roof.” She is a single mother with three sons and two grandchildren.
Beneficiaries and officials: Jennifer Davids (beneficiary), Cllr Jean Safers, Brumilda Kirchner, Project Administrator at Human Settlements, Hester Tamboer (beneficiary in the wheelchair) and her husband Pieter, and Cllr Regina Windwaai.
Pieter and Hester Tamboer lived in a temporary structure before they received their home and before that they lived in an informal settlement. Hester, who is wheelchair-bound, said they have struggled with water logging and sometimes she couldn’t even move in her wheelchair. “We are just happy to have a proper house.” Their son and grandchild also live with them.
James October, another beneficiary, has been on the waiting list for 27 years. He will live in the house with his daughter and his grandchild.
“I don’t have words to express my gratitude. I hear people talk about the small homes they are getting but my question remains: what did you have before? I also want to make it clear we, as residents of the Metro Grounds Housing Project, will not allow thuggery and gangsterism that is rife in other communities.”
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