Lydia Pitiri
TSANDI – The Tsandi Village Council has formalised the informal settlement in the town after it allocated 300 to 500 square metres of land to each resident living in the area.
About 140 people lived in the informal settlement.
Land management officer of the Tsandi Village Council, Rebbeka Nuule said they are formalising informal settlements to ensure residents live in formal structures, instead of shacks.
“We believe people will not stay poor forever because of the circumstances they live in. We made provision for ample land in the hope that their circumstances will change in the near future, and they will have enough land to further develop their plots,” she noted, adding that the village council is working hard to avoid informal structures in the vicinity.
In an interview with this agency on the sidelines of the Tsandi Annual Trade Fair and Expo on Monday, Nuule mentioned that Extension 12 is the designated area that has been set aside for low-income- earners who used to reside in the informal settlement that has since been formalised.
“These people will soon obtain their title deeds for their land,” she added.
The individual plots have been fenced off, clearly demarcated, and with a road network.
Council has conducted planning and surveying for the area. They are now waiting for adequate funding to provide services such as electricity, sewer and water reticulation.
The land management officer said the council is currently providing communal taps and toilets in the area.
Nuule said they have already approached NamWater to avail funds so that the council is able to provide water to individual houses.
“Each person present here has his or her own plot of land, and has received approval to construct building structures on them. However, no backyard shacks are allowed,” she emphasised.
Nuule said the council has devised a plan to use funds from the Build Together initiative to acquire building materials for the community to construct their houses.
These members will repay the assistance in the form of a loan.
“We are discouraging people from living in shacks, and encouraging them to live in decent houses,” Nuule reiterated. – Nampa