TSUMEB – Whilst there is a national uproar due to exorbitant land prices and escalating rentals, the Tsumeb Municipality has availed about 100 hectares of land to be serviced and developed for residential plots.
Part of the 100 hectares will also be utilised for mixed developments such as businesses and schools, confirmed Festus Nekayi, the Head of Planning, Design and Development at the Tsumeb Municipality.
Nekayi said unavailability of serviced land created a huge demand for housing which also escalated property prices as the Tsumeb Municipality could not keep up with demand.
“Due to inadequate funding, the municipal council has taken a two-pronged approach by which land is subdivided. The municipality allocates land to prominent land developers and they are to develop the land at their own cost. Developing includes planning and design, servicing of land. The process is however closely monitored by the municipality to make sure that it adheres to the Town Planning Amendment Scheme and the Town Structure Plan,” he explained in an interview with New Era.
He further noted that “this approach is expected to help achieve the governmental mandates with regard to land delivery.”
Currently the town availed 150 hectares of land that can be developed for industrial development.
“These portions of land are undeveloped and undetermined therefore in order for the Tsumeb Municipal Council to develop these portions, activities such as environmental impact assessment, subdivisions, township establishments, need and desirability, rezoning, planning and design, servicing of land have to be carried out before land delivery can be realised in Tsumeb,” he further said.
In recent months Namibia recorded among the highest land prices in the world second only to Dubai.
Residential land is still scarce countrywide while housing prices are on the rise. Earlier this year government launched the mass housing project that is expected to deliver 180 000 houses by 2017.
By Rochelle Neidel