WINDHOEK – The Minister of Lands and Resettlement Alpheus !Naruseb on Friday presented new members of the Flexible Land Tenure Regulations Committee with their appointment certificates at their inauguration.
The members are: Frieda Andreas who is a graduate of the Polytechnic of Namibia and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Land Management and an Honours Degree in Spatial Planning from the University of the Free State in South Africa and is currently registered as a Master’s student doing her thesis in Land Information Management for Local Authorities.
Andreas has been working for the Ministry of Regional, Local Government, Housing and Rural Development for 22 years and has a vast knowledge on urban land management and is currently the Chief Control Officer for the sub-division Land Management Delivery in the Directorate Regional and Local Government and Traditional Coordination.
She further acquired international exposure by attending courses in Advanced Land Administration at Sweden Landmateriet, Land Use Planning in Germany as well as Advance Special Planning in Singapore.
The second member is Joseph Christian Lewis who is a graduate of the International Institute of Science and Earth Observation (ITC in the Netherlands) and has a Master of Science Degree in Geoinformatics. His thesis covered Accessing and Improving the Special Accuracy of Non-metric Small Formal Aerial Photography for Layout Planning of Informal Settlements, awarded with distinction.
Lewis also has a Bachelor of Science in Land Surveying (Honours) and has been the head of the Land Management Department at the Polytechnic of Namibia.
He has 15 years of survey experience and is currently the Head of the Geomatic Section.
The third member is Geraldine Blanché van Rooi who obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University of Namibia, an Honours Degree in Geography at the University of Namibia and a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning at the University of Cape Town.
She is a member of the Namibian Council of Town and Regional Planners and is presently employed at the Windhoek City Council as Section Planner – Sustainable Development for Community Services for the City of Windhoek.
The fourth member is Dr Anna Muller who is the National Coordinator of the National Housing Action Group (NHAG)/Shack Dwellers. She has 20 years’ experience in accessing land to the urban poor and setting planning rules.
The fifth member of the committee is Onesmus Shilunga, the Mayor of Oshakati, who is also the Chairperson of the Osshakati Urban Steering Committee and the FLTS Community Facilitator countrywide.
The Flexible Land Tenure Act which was passed in April last year was initiated to give land ownership rights to the urban poor who live in informal settlements where they can be evicted at the town council’s whim.
According to !Naruseb, while it is not the direct responsibility of the lands ministry to become involved in urban land issues, it took the bold step to set up the Flexible Land Tenure System to make it easier for the urban poor to get access to serviced land.
He further draw a comparison between the recently announced mass housing initiative of government and the Flexible Land Tenure System, labeling them both efforts of government to address the growing scarcity of adequate housing in both Windhoek and other towns and villages throughout Namibia.
By Roland Routh