WINDHOEK – Windhoek residents owe the City of Windhoek N$935 million in municipal bills as at 31 December 2019. A total of N$663 million is owed to municipality over 30 days before December, said Windhoek mayor Fransina Kahungu during the first monthly council meeting last week.
“I would like to call upon all the residents to settle their municipal bills because without a financially sustainable city, provision of much needed services will suffer and the initiatives that I have just alluded to will not be implemented as fast as we want,” stated Kahungu.
She said they understand the economic hardship being experienced by the whole country, but the city council still needs to pay its service providers to ensure the economy and services that many rely upon are sustained.
Kahungu also encouraged all residents to use scarce resources – water and electricity sparingly and wisely and look after infrastructure to extend their life span.
She said council understands full the pressing needs of the residents when it comes to housing which is a national challenge and in this regard council’s vows to accelerate service delivery.
“Initiatives of priority such as the pre-allocation of plots to our residents, provision of water and sanitation to underserved areas of our city and delivery of services in informal settlements, are all aimed at accelerating resolutions to the problems facing our communities,” she remarked.
The mayor said it should be agreed that the backlog of housing and the need to provide alternative housing to residents residing in shack dwellings is a huge task, which cannot be alleviated within a day.
“Our appeal is therefore, that the ongoing council efforts through provision of affordable housing and other programmes should be embraced. As the mayor of our city, I would like to use this opportunity, to call upon the residents of Windhoek, to resist taking the law into their own hands and cooperate with council, in the implementation of ongoing programmes on the provision of land,” she said
The mayor called on fellow councillors to set aside political and ideological difference in order to push in one direction and work together jointly as one team with a mission to unshackle residents from the lack of adequate basic amenities and poverty.
She said she is busy finalising the mayoral action plan 2020 under the theme: Taking deliberate, but cautious actions for a balanced developmental agenda for Windhoek.
Kahungu said as the theme suggest, they are going to take deliberate but cautious actions with the main objective of turning the tables in favour of residents, particularly those living in the north and north- western suburbs, including settlements such as Mix, Groot Aub.
She said the Mayoral Action Plan will focus specifically on land delivery, water electricity, sanitation and inclusive community participation.
– sikela@nepc.com.na