BHC to evict illegal tenants from Minestone houses
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday July 13, 2016 15:56
The corporation is planning to demolish 50 of their old houses here before the end of this year.
On Monday this week, during a meeting with the concerned tenants, BHC’s senior estates manager, northern region, Olefile Segokgo disclosed that the corporation has been profiling all tenants and discovered that the majority of them have been occupying the houses illegally.
Segokgo said although some have lived in the houses for years the illegal tenants should vacate the houses to pave way for new developments.
“We discovered that the majority of you do not have any lease agreements with BHC and some of you have been leased out the houses by your friends and family members something that we do not support,” said Segokgo pleading with the illegal tenants to vacate the BHC houses.
He added that some of their tenants have long passed away and some people found their way into the houses and occupied them without any arrangement with BHC.
“Some of you have not been paying rent and this automatically disqualifies you from getting any further assistance from us. We have discovered that some of you own residential plots elsewhere in the city but are refusing to vacate our properties,” said Segokgo.
Segokgo said in the past tenants have pleaded with them to help them secure plots and acquire loans through Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA).
“Negotiations with the department of lands to give us land are ongoing and hopefully our request will be successful because this matter was recently addressed at Parliament. We have also talked to the Francistown City Council and are willing to help you acquire SHHA loans,” said Segokgo.
He said they have been assessing the tenants’ financial status in order to relocate them to their houses in the Gerald Estate location but all the occupants cannot afford to pay the house rentals.
The houses are small and crammed with no electricity making the living conditions unbearable especially that they are in the city centre and located near the Central Business District (CBD).
“BHC will soon demolish these houses because we want to build modern houses that can accommodate many tenants,” said Segokgo raising a concern that some of them have turned the old BHC houses into shebeens and a crime hub.
Commenting on the issue, the SHHA’s principal housing officer, Edwin Sechele encouraged them to apply for SHHA loans so that they can own homes especially those who owned plots.
“If your salary ranges from P400 per month you are eligible to apply for the loan and if you are unemployed and your children can afford to pay your loan, you are allowed to apply,” said Sechele.
Commenting, a resident Kgopiso Kadimo thanked BHC for their efforts in acquiring land on their behalf as well as securing SHHA loans so that they can construct homes for themselves.
“I have a plot and due to financial constraints I have been failing to develop it and I am now happy that you will help us acquire SHHA loans,” said Kadimo.