By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
Plans by the Walvis Bay Municipality to establish its own police force have stalled after residents and businesses refused to fork out N$175 in addition to existing monthly municipal bills.
The idea to establish a force was mooted after the municipality received appeals from some residents to form a police force that would complement the regular force in fighting escalating crime at the town.
The force was to be fashioned along the lines of the Windhoek City Police. It was estimated that it would cost the municipality between N$13 million and N$16 million to procure equipment, recruitment and training of staff.
There are 18 000 ratepayers in Walvis Bay.
Although the municipal police force would aid present crime-fighting initiatives, Municipality of Walvis bay Communications Officer Ester Haixema said, “The results of the final survey on the establishment of a municipal police force has produced a definite no from residents and businesses in Walvis Bay.”
The final survey launched to obtain a more representative and definitive result on the issue, revealed that the revised proposed costs of N$175 per household and N$300 per business drew the harshest criticism, even from those sectors that are in favour of a municipal police force.
“It will definitively help to address the crime situation in Walvis Bay, but very few people can afford an extra N$175 per month, while many of us already pay a security company for alarm equipment and patrols, the amount is just too high,” one resident lamented.
The door-to-door survey conducted from the May 02 to 15, 2007 found that 26 percent of the household respondents were willing to pay N$175 for a municipal police force, while 74 percent were not prepared to bear such costs. In the business sector 65 percent said no, while 35 percent were willing to fork out the extra N$300.
The municipality carried out a survey in December 2006 to January 2007 to obtain the opinions of residents on the matter, especially that the costs of establishing and sustaining a municipal police force would have to be borne by them.
Preliminary survey findings showed the majority of the residents (58 percent) voted in favour of a municipal police force with 50 percent willing to pay for such a service.
However, the initial survey proposed a customer monthly contribution of between N$50 and N$60 for private residents and between N$120 and N$160 for business owners.
The fluctuation in figures was because the town needed to recruit between 60 and 80 police officers.
The amount that was going to be collected would be used for training, uniforms, boots, batons, handcuffs, pistols and other necessary materials.
“There have been strong indications in recent years that crime was increasing rapidly, especially violent crime, which prompted council to re-investigate the implementation of a city police unit,” she said.
On average, the Walvis Bay city police record between 50 and 60 crime cases, while other areas such as Kuisebmund had 70 to 80 criminal cases per week.
These include cases related to rape, housebreaking and armed robberies.