Polycare makes bid for homes Will construct 10 000 houses per annum A new player in the construction industry is confident it can deliver 10 000 homes per year and has caught the attention of many. A new player in the construction industry is confident it can deliver 10 000 homes per year and has caught the attention of many.Property developer Polycare, is confident that it can deliver approximately 10 000 houses per annum and used the Invest in Namibia conference as the perfect platform to market their potential game-changer. The company believes the material it uses is of a superior quality and is cheap but the houses are of a high standard adding that they are keen to hit the ground running.
Polycare developer Ramon Gray believes in his product and is punting it as a potential solution to the current housing crisis. “Our material is six times stronger than conventional concrete and we plan to make our concrete here. We have talked to the president, prime minister and minister of urban and rural development about a construction plant. There are other potential partners that have expressed interest.”
He added: “We are in discussions with the relevant line ministry for the construction of a local manufacturing plant. This plant will be the first of its kind in the world.”
Gray believes Polycare can deliver the units anticipated, indicating that it was possible to construct the houses fast. On possible lead-times he said, “It will depend on the number of machines, it is quite possible to build 20 houses a day at a cost of between N$225 000 and N$250 000.”
While Gray confirmed that standard testing had not yet been done locally, he was very confident the cement mixture would meet the requirements of the Namibian Standards Institution, indicating that he was prepared to share the results of Polycare’s stress-standards with the institute.
Added Gray: “We have been talking to a number of bodies with regards to testing on their part.” He indicated that he would travel to the Oshana Region with Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, to test a completed model in actual conditions.
Kavango Block Bricks has in the past made a similar attempt to construct low-cost housing. It however appears that not much progress has been made with the commercialisation of the Kavango Block Brick housing project.
OGONE TLHAGE