Walvis Bay
The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, says she will not put her signature on questionable land deals. She further gave the assurance that she certainly would also not entertain any decisions or land deals that will provoke the public into questioning her integrity.
Shaningwa was speaking at the National Mayor’s Forum attended by, among others, members of the management committees of Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Okahao, Otavi, Lüderitz, Grootfontein and Windhoek. The forum sat on Monday and Tuesday at Walvis Bay.
She said the 100 000 housing units backlog will not be resolved unless councils and municipalities exercise transparency, honesty and fairness in their quest for a solution.
“My signature is certainly not for sale. It’s for fairness and I will not certainly entertain any deals that would put me in the hot seat,” Shaningwa told the gathering.
The two-day forum was hosted under the theme “Local authorities geared towards accelerated and inclusive development and progress.”
The forum is a platform where local authorities come together and caucus on how best they can positively impact the lives of those they serve, within the respective local authorities.
Shaningwa said shacks made of refuse bags and corrugated iron sheets have given her sleepless nights, hence “local authorities must commit themselves to deliver the 200 000 plots step by step”.
“Once the serviced plots are available we must have a clear list of applicants from those who applied since 1990 to date, so that we can start allocating on a first come, first serve basis, one plot per person,” stressed the urban and rural development minister. Shaningwa also noted with great concern the increase in complaints about irregularities and favouritism in the way some unscrupulous local authorities allocate land.
“Members should desist from recommending many residential erven to one individual or entity. Similarly, larger portions of land should not be allocated to one person or entity. How do you want to solve our land issue if we make such allocations? These are the kinds of irregularities that raise questions and discredit our integrity.”
She added: “Let us share the land resource with each other, and make it affordable and within the means of ordinary Namibians. Therefore, fairness and transparency must always prevail, then only will we be able to solve the backlog,” she stressed.
She also called upon local authorities to eliminate the middlemen who push up the prices of land, and to remain focused on the purpose of the urban land mass servicing project, so that they can positively impact the livelihoods of the communities they serve.