By John Muyamba
RUNDU – The Rundu Town Council is to roll out a new a structure plan that will guide the town’s long term development. The plan would guide and inform the town’s development strategic planning policies and land use until 2040.
The town’s population is the driving factor for the structure plan, as the town needs to prepare for the increasing population. Rundu population grew from less than 2,000 people in 1971 to 19 336 people in 1991. In 2001 the population was at 36 964 people which increased to 63 431 people in 2011.
The strategic plan foresees that the town population would increase to an estimated 316 137 people by 2040.
The town council says Rundu is strategically located as all road traffic from Namibia’s neighbouring countries of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana go through Rundu via the TransCaprivi Highway to reach the port of Walvis Bay. The town council needs to improve in serrvices so that the town can benefit from that advantage.
The town council briefed the public this week on the future developmental plans, presenting the findings and recommendations on the Rundu Structure Plans, and soliciting feedback from the community. Stubenrauch Planning Consultants, a town and regional planning consultant firm, is assisting the town council in the drawing up of the structure plan.
The structure plan will also provide the general framework for detailed decisions by the local authorities, business enterprises, government organisations, civil society organisations and individuals in the preparation of their future plans.
One of the key primary functions of the structure plan is to encourage and direct development for the benefit of the town’s current and future residents which will include the availability of land for residential use, access to institutional facilities like educational, health institutions as well as for public administration, not only that but also recreational and open spaces and vehicle as well as pedestrian circulation.
Other key issues on the structure plan is also to avail facilities such as a cemetery, waste and garbage removal sites and many other areas that the public feels are of concern and those the public feels are of importance to the structure plan.
According to a presentation by Stubenrauch Planning Consultants it showed that currently Rundu has a school-going population of 30 682 students who should be taught in 948 classrooms according to GRN policy.
However, only 17 084 children attend school and they are taught in 423 classrooms and so by 2021 Rundu may require an additional 355 classrooms in other words it will require 8 primary schools, 6 secondary schools and 3 combined schools if all learners attend school and population growth continues at the current rate.