KEETMANSHOOP – The CEO of the Keetmanshoop Municipality, Desmond Basson says it is practically impossible to provide serviced land by July 31 set by Affirmative Repositioning (AR).
Job Amupanda has in recent months mobilised thousands of people to make mass land applications with local authorities, as they feel municipalities across Namibia awkwardly handle land applications.
He said Keetmanshoop will not afford and it is impossible to meet the AR deadline to service and provide land to about 800 people that applied for land in February through AR mass land applications.
He said it will cost the municipality around N$10 million to service 500 plots and with a budget of about N$48 million it will be difficult to spend such a huge chunk of money on servicing land because there are other competing needs that are urgent. While land activists are adamant people should be given land by the end of July or the land will be taken, Basson pointed out there is not a single municipality or town council in the county that is capable of servicing land for a huge number of people and in this case with a deadline to beat.
“No municipality in this country will meet that deadline,” Basson said referring to July 31.
He said the land applicants, who applied during the mass land application last month, would not receive any special treatment or be considered first and would have to follow the same procedures as any applicant.
“We have a backlog of about 500 and they will have to form part of that list,” stressed Basson.