Helena Johannes
The City of Windhoek had finally approved its plan to decongest some Windhoek informal settlements as a Covid19 emergency response measure close to two months after President Hage Geingob gave the directive, despite the number of Covid19 drastically decreasing.
“The plan is well on track as I don’t know when exactly, but the plan was approved recently by the city council just this month,” Windhoek Mayor, Fransina Kahungu told the Windhoek Observer.
She said the city council has given the mandate to its technical staff to research on places that need to be decongested.
“They have started already in some areas. The Identification of sites has also began as people will not only be moved to Otjomuise, but they will be allocated with land internally (within their locations) as well,” she said.
“The issuing of the land ownership certificates to people in congested settlement started in July this year, however the process stopped due to Covid19 and we just recently started after Council approved.”
Previously Kaihungu attributed the delays to the council management committee which is tasked with deciding matters to be put on the council agenda.
Kaihungu ,however, said people will only be given portions of land to build at their own costs as government cannot afford to build free houses.
“If I say we have to build houses for everyone, that’s impossible. We can only give land and people will build with their own materials at their own cost,” she said.
The statement by the Windhoek mayor comes as government has directed the Municipality of Walvis Bay to ensure that the Twaloloka beneficiaries whose houses were destroyed by fire in July receive their fully built houses by end of October this year.
