SWAKOPMUND – Residents of the DRC informal settlement are pleased that the Swakopmund municipality will finally start with the formalisation of their settlement.
Some residents also urged the municipality to deliver on proper housing, clean water and sanitation that they say are critical to the dignity and welfare of the close to 20 000 DRC residents. They also say the town council must see to it that all contractors deliver promptly and that they should also provide jobs to unemployed DRC residents, even if it is only unskilled or temporary jobs during the construction of the planned houses. The municipality last week said it would build at least 1 000 houses through the government’s ambitious mass housing project in the informal settlement.
Swakopmund Mayor, Juuso Kambueshe said the first phase of the mass housing project will start in January next year. Kambueshe said a N$26.5 million contract has already been awarded to a contractor who will be responsible for the installation of all the main water and sewerage systems at the informal settlement. The first phase of the development is expected to be complete by November 01 next year, which will be followed by the construction of the actual houses. The mayor also indicated that the recently launched National Mass Housing project would also speed up the DRC’s formalization, therefore all persons without homes are requested to register with the municipality as soon as possible. “The construction of houses is a clear indication of the council’s agenda to prioritize the needs of the town’s residents. Thereby we are expecting to construct at least 12 000 houses within the next 24 months,” Kambueshe explained.
DRC is a sprawling informal settlement of corrugated iron matchbox dwellings where hundreds of poor people in Swakopmund have settled and its populations is estimated to be around 20 000. DRC residents have been fighting for almost 10 years now for the formalisation of their settlement and they even undertook not to take part in the elections in 2014 if their demand for proper housing is not met. Recently the residents also handed over a petition to Erongo Regional Governor, Cleophas Mutjavikua in which they expressed dissatisfaction with their elected local authority leaders at the town.
By Eveline de Klerk