NHC properties to be maintained

By HELEN TARAWA
HOUSING and Urbanisation Minister Justin Tkatchenko says a full inventory of National Housing Corporation (NHC) assets, including homes and land, will be drawn up and maintained.
Tkatchenko told The National that there was no record of the NHC assets. “Once we’ve got that, I will be appealing to tenants living in NHC houses to please pay rentals to avoid any disappointment. The rentals are not much under rental standards so please pay your rentals to ensure that we can get NHC back on track,” he said.
Tkatchenko said NHC must become profitable and its business arm the National Housing Estate Limited be self-sufficient.
“That means that hard decisions must be made and we must start knocking on our debtors’ doors to resolve a lot of those issues,” he said.
“We will be investigating liabilities of over K100 million which is absolutely appalling and ridiculous.
“We should never come to that stage.”
He urged anyone who had any evidence of corrupt officers in the NHC or any documentation of past practices of corruption to forward them to him.
“My doors are open and I will be happy to receive that information to clean up the National Housing Corporation,” Tkatchenko said.
Meanwhile, he said the appointment of the acting managing director Elizabeth Bowada was legal.
“I have not received any other documents to the contrary to say otherwise.
“I’m working with her on her acting appointment. She has three months,” he said.