Praia, Cape Verde, 16 Aug – The Cape Verdean government aims to build 3,000 houses by the end of 2011 under the “House for All” programme, financed by a 200 million euro credit line from Portugal, the Minister for Decentralisation, Housing and Territorial Planning has indicated.

Sara Lopes said on Friday in Praia that 20 tenders would be launched for the portion of the credit line meant for 2010/2011, so that nearly 3,000 dwellings can be under construction on all the country’s islands next year.

“House for All” tenders have already been launched in the municipalities of Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz and Praia on Santiago Island and on the islands of Boavista and Sao Vicente, she said.

“Next we’ll launch a tender on Sal Island, expand the tender for Boavista and reach the three municipalities on Fogo Island, so that we cover the whole island chain by the end of 2011”, she added.

Lopes explained that the programme got under way in 2009 with work on structuring programmes, socialisation and approval of laws, and will move on to the implementation phase this August or September.

The “House for All” programme launched by the Cape Verdean government is backed by a 200 million euro credit line from Portugal. Consortiums of Portuguese and Cape Verdean companies are participating in construction of the homes.

The projects cover all the country’s island via the Habitat-CV (housing construction in urban centres) and Pro-Habitar (rural housing construction) programmes.

The programmes are overseen by the Cape Verdean Ministry for Decentralisation, Housing and Territorial Planning and are part of a larger and ambitious plan to alleviate the country’s housing problem, where there is a shortfall of 80,368 homes.

Besides Portugal, China has also announced that it will finance the construction of about 3,000 dwellings. (macauhub)