Martin Endjala
Hundreds of landless Walvis Bay residents are preparing to submit applications for land.
This is an initiative launched by the Walvis Bay Backyard Tenants Group, who say they want to purchase Portion 23 of Farm 37 near Dune 7.
According to a public notice inviting those who live in backyard shacks who were left out to become beneficiaries of Portion 19, well known as Extension 6 of Green Valley.
“We are going to apply to the Walvis Bay Municipality to purchase portion 23 of farm 37,” read the notice.
The group leader, Festus Immanuel, said they are a group of more than 2 000 members who will apply for Portion 23 on Tuesday.
“We were recently allocated Portion 19 by our local authority council. However, this portion is not sufficient for us. As we are speaking, only 686 members will be absorbed into Portion 19, now registered with the ministry, he said.
He explained that Portion 23 is close to Portion 19, and they plan to service both pieces of land.
Immanuel said they are currently busy with the infrastructural design at Portion 19.
He suggests that it will be beneficial to design infrastructure for both Portion 19 and 23 at once.
This will allow them to get discounts when paying for architecture.
The Ministry of Urban and Rural Development recently launched the National Housing Policy, which will be in effect from 2024 to 2028.
He stated that they aim to derive benefits from the policy’s purpose, implementation strategies, and implementation framework, which can be found on pages 25 to 42.
“This is only possible if they develop parallel to the two portions they intend to service,” he said.
The country’s last mass land registration occurred in 2015, with Swakopmund and Walvis Bay being the most sought-after locations in Erongo, receiving over 10 000 applications.
