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Home / Lüderitz residents object to sale of 200 erven
Lüderitz residents object to sale of 200 erven
2017-09-20Staff Report 2 Albertina Nakale Windhoek-Lüderitz residents have submitted their objections to the council over its intention to sell through private treaty 200 unserviced erven to four different businesses in the town. The aggrieved residents, organized under Buchters Against Corrupt Land Sale, yesterday demanded that the town council provide details of ownership and the names and addresses of the directors of “these unknown” entities and motivators behind the preferential treatment of these companies. The town council had asked for public comment and objections to the sale with the deadline on September 19. Buchters Against Corrupt Land Sale comprises 959 members. “We therefore request proof of the subsequent approval given by the minister to the Lüderitz Town Council to dispose of the abovementioned unserviced erven. When, where, how, by whom and under which authority did the Lüderitz Town Council determine the ridiculously low sale attached to those 200 erven,” said Reginald Hercules, who read the petition on behalf of the group. Lüderitz residents have objected to the sale of 200 unserviced plots by the town council to four private developers for prices as low as N$279,945 for 50 erven, while they have been landless for years. Contacted for comment, Lüderitz Town Council acting chief executive officer, Daisy Beukes, confirmed receiving the petition. “We did receive it this morning. They, the council, are yet to sit down and study it. We will then look into the matter and respond accordingly,” she said, without shedding light on the procedures followed for the sale of the 200 unserviced plots. The companies that have expressed interest to buy the erven are Amai-ge Investments CC, which is allocated 50 unserviced erven at a price of N$291,300 at Nautilus Extension 2; Harambee Development Solutions (Pty) Ltd for 50 unserviced plots for N$336,175; NCCS Investment Holdings (Pty) Ltd for 50 unserviced plots in the same suburb’s Extension 4 for N$279,945; and Davino Properties and Investment CC and Eland Construction Metals (Pty) Ltd for 50 unserviced erven for a mere N$280,125 in the same suburb’s Extension 5. However, the community asks that the erven first be offered to the Lüderitz community who have been landless for years, including those who have been on a waiting list for many years. They also demand that the town council provide the minutes of community meetings where the bulk sale of these erven were discussed and decided upon. They bemoan the fact that Lüderitz is surrounded by a restricted diamond mining area, which has limited the availability of land for housing for more than 100 years. “It’s for this reason that the residents of Lüderitz, who have been begging the Lüderitz Town Council for years to avail land for housing, are extremely angered by the callous way in which the town council has manipulated and circumvented the tender processes and procedures in favour of a privileged few at the expense of the larger Lüderitz community,” the community complains in the petition. 2017-09-20Staff Report 2
