Katima Mulilo
Katima Mulilo mayor Charles Matengu has rebutted claims the council succumbed to pressure from land activists and gave out 1 000 plots to appease landless youths at the town.
Matengu was reacting to a TV news report by One Africa television on Monday night that stated the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between council and a committee of landless youths known as Lwa Yaha was a result of pressure over the long-standing land issue.
Matengu, who convened a press briefing on Tuesday, yesterday noted that council continued having meetings with the youths and that council already had plans to allocate residential plots to residents even before the issue of land became prominent.
“The town council did not bow to pressure. We have been having meetings with these committees together with the governor.
The latest incident in which (Charles) Siyauya was involved was an ongoing engagement. Town council has been busy with the planning of allocating and servicing plots even before the Lwa Yaha group,”clarified Matengu on the MoU reportedly brokered by youth activist and Bukalo village councillor Charles Siyauya.
According to Matengu who produced the existing land plans when explaining the ongoing land allocation by town council, many portions of land within town were already earmarked for residents.
“In March a portion next to the river was allocated provisionally and so is Extension 7 where roads are being put up for Macaravan East residents, Extension 8 for Chotto residents and a portion in Cowboy,” stressed Matengu.
He however noted that groups other than Lwa Yaha in the informal settlements would be relocated by council at its own pace but do not fall within the deadline of three months as is the case with the Lwa Yaha group. But the 1 000 plots would not only be limited to the Lwa Yaha group. Such areas include Macaravan East and West residents, who are affected by the public private partnership (PPP) agreement between council and property developers and Chotto residents that were forced to move due to the formalisation of the informal settlement initiative under the NAM/343 project of Lux Development and the Namibian government. Matengu could not specify where the plots measuring 300 square metres offered to youths would be allocated and only stated that it would be in different locations.
A deadline of three months from July 1 to September 30 2015 has been agreed upon between town council and the youth group.
The group, comprised of mainly landless youth, resorted to grabbing land in Macaravan East last month.