The Otavi Town Council has ambitious plans to reach its full potential, but is owed a cumulative N$60 million in unpaid water and electricity bills, of which N$15 million of the outstanding debt is attributable to government institutions.
Otavi mayor Isaac !Hoaeb revealed this during a recent interview with New Era.
The interview touched on a buffet of issues, including the town’s plans, shortcomings and how it aims to unlock its untapped potential.
“They owe the council approximately N$60 million. The residents owe and don’t pay, and it is a big challenge. People still need to take ownership, and they also think the council is getting paid by the government. But they don’t know that the operations of the council should be funded [from the services it offers (rates and taxes)]. If they are not paying, the council will not have money for projects and operations,” he stated.
The town is also in the process of writing off debt owed to it by pensioners, a process which only awaits parliament’s blessing.
While the town is confronted by a myriad of challenges, it was evident from its first resident that they have success stories to tell too.
“We are having our own success stories to tell about Otavi. We have challenges as well. And we also have plans,” !Hoaeb said.
He pointed to the new town council building and the Motor-Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund offices next to it as some of the recent developments aimed at bringing world-class services closer to the residents.
“We have embarked on several projects, and I can attest that we have made progress. I can tell you about some of the successes that we have achieved as a council. We are starting from even this building you see next to us here, the MVA centre, which is one of the centres we have inaugurated after we have come into office. It was constructed while we were in office,” he reiterated.
With the town’s population growing rapidly, it meant that existing oxidation ponds could not cater to the larger number of residents.
To avert this crisis, the town has since added two extra cells to its oxidation ponds, and it is no longer overflowing.
“Another challenge is that we want to reuse the sewerage water. So, we want to put up a treatment plant there so that we can reuse the water,” he added.
Treating water means the town can also maximise on its fertile grounds.
The council wants to set up a community green scheme project, where hundreds of youths are earmarked for employment.
“Otavi has fertile soil, and we use that water for gardening. During our tenure, we looked at the situation of unemployment among the youth. We have a farm of 150 hectares. We have started engaging stakeholders, and we are also in the process of looking for investors. [The] youth will be skilled in gardening, and it will be a boost to address unemployment in the town and among the youth,” he noted.
The mayor also took pride in having electrified 50 houses in an ongoing mass electrification process at the town.
“Under that new project, we are planning to electrify another 100 houses in a new greater informal settlement. It’s already underway,” he stated.
Housing indaba
Then the clergyman-cum-politician turned to the housing situation in the town, the elephant in the room which most local authorities grapple with daily.
Fortunately for Otavi, serviced plots are available. Affordability among the residents is the big question.
“We do have enough plots already serviced. Plots in Otavi are enough. But then the other challenge is that they are not affordable to the lower-income groups, which is bad. We do have over 2 200 serviced plots,” he said.
Asked if this was not a mismatch, he observed that the town council is working together with other stakeholders such as the Shack Dwellers’ Federation of Namibia to ensure that every resident’s housing needs are catered for, irrespective of social or economic status.
“We are also in the process of buying a portion of land where we can put up another area for the informal settlement. We can sub-divide and put plots for those who are in the bracket of ultra-low and in the low-income groups,” he continued.
The town will be hosting a housing conference later this year.
It will see relevant players in the housing sector converge under one roof to address housing-related challenges confronting the town and home funding modalities, amongst others.
-emumbuu@nepc.com.na