Loide Jason
A handover ceremony of 38 erven to landless police officers was abruptly halted after local residents of Ekunde informal settlement at Okahandja disrupted the proceedings claiming the selection process was not fairly done.
The standoff led to a three-hour meeting with urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni, his deputy Derek Klazen, executive director Nghidinua Daniel and representatives of the Okahandja municipality and disgruntled residents. The meeting resolved to include the first 100 landless residents who were on the initial master list to be included in the land allocation. “I promised to listen to you, and I am happy to tell you that we are no longer going to hand over those 38 certificates alone.
However, we are now going to give 100 residents on the list plus the 38 police officers who were supposed to get certificates today,” Uutoni stated.
The decision was lauded by the local residents who will now have a piece of land to build their homes. The residents complained yesterday that members of a local committee overseeing the allocation of land at Okahandja manipulated the list on Tuesday evening and included police officers as beneficiaries.
No other landless residents were on the list of 38. Uutoni urged the local authority to follow the master list in place when allocating land to avoid chaos.
Ekunde Extension 5 has about 247 serviced plots, Extension 4 has 253. There are 2 950 people on the waiting list at the moment.
ljason@nepc.com.na