WALVIS BAY – The need for affordable housing and serviced land was once again amplified over the weekend when 26 families in Walvis Bay’s Kuisebmond location were left homeless after an inferno.
A total of 12 shacks burnt to the ground, while a woman and her two children sustained slight injuries.
They were treated and released on Saturday from the Walvis Bay State Hospital.
The victims are now at the mercy of good Samaritans to assist them in rebuilding their homes.
The fire took place on Saturday afternoon, just hours after the urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni announced the government’s plan to launch the revised National Housing Policy that would provide affordable land to all Namibians.
At the heart of the policy is the delivery of land through expeditious servicing.
“What we have observed is that it’s expensive for local authorities to service land. The land becomes so expensive, resulting in the end-users not being able to afford it. Therefore, central government decided to inject more money to assist local authorities in servicing the land,” Uutoni said.
Local authorities were already requested to submit some extensions that are already planned, surveyed and registered.
The ministry will then allocate funds to service these extensions throughout the country. “This means that those in need of land will no longer pay exorbitant amounts for serviced land, but could pay less than N$10 000,” said Uutoni. He said after the implementation of the policy, Namibians will no longer have to fork out more than N$10 000 for serviced erven.
The policy will be beneficial to residents in towns such as Walvis Bay, where serviced land is quite expensive, forcing many into living in backyard shacks.
Walvis Bay has been battling with the shortage of serviced land and housing, resulting in Farm 37 being earmarked to decongest the town.
Almost half of the town’s residents have been living either in backyard shacks, or rental properties. However, council has to date not allocated land to over 1 000 residents at Farm 37.
Speaking on Friday evening during the launch of the October 2015 Seafarers United Land and Housing, Uutoni said groups such as theirs will become a critical component in the revised National Housing Policy. He said a steering committee that would advise the government on how to implement this policy was put in place.
He said the revised housing plan will be launched this month, while the first results of the plan are expected as early as February next year.
“It’s also a component of the implementation team. This is the team that will now put everything into action,” he said.
Labour minister Utoni Nujoma, who also spoke at the event, said late president Hage Geingob declared homelessness and informal settlements as a national disaster. Hence, government persists with this very important task of eliminating informal settlements.
“It will take time. It is not easy… and you people forget, and you are blaming the Swapo Party. We had colonialism that lasted almost a century. We are trying to reverse that backlog,” he said.
Nujoma then appealed to all Namibians to stick together, and make Namibia the best place to live in. “I’m sure within our lifetime, we are going to eliminate the informal settlements, and everybody will have a roof over their head,” he said.