City considers legal route as Havana road project stalls

The City of Windhoek is facing a major obstacle in its efforts to complete the Havana four-way intersection, with unresolved household relocations preventing construction from moving ahead.

This emerged on Friday when the parliamentary standing committee on urban and rural development and land reform visited the Havana road construction project to establish why the four-way intersection remains heavily congested and why construction has taken longer than expected.

Municipal officials told the committee that the delays are not solely a construction issue. A major obstacle is the relocation of households from areas required for road infrastructure and planned developments.

To date, 98 households have been relocated to Havana Extension 8 and 11 of the 169 households identified for relocation, officials said.

The City and the developer have attempted to address resistance to the relocations through community meetings and awareness engagements, the committee heard.

These engagements have been used to explain the development plans, relocation arrangements and the anticipated benefits of the project.

Despite these efforts, 71 of the 169 households identified for relocation have yet to be relocated.

The unresolved relocations have now reached the point where the City is pursuing the legal route to make the required areas available for development, following efforts to secure voluntary relocation.

The situation has created a bottleneck with consequences that extend well beyond the road itself.

The committee was told that Windhoek aims to invest N$110 million in Havana Extension 8 and a further N$62 million in Extension 11. The combined N$172 million development programme includes land servicing planned for 2026 and 2027.

The plans are expected to pave the way for the construction of 425 low-cost housing units during the 2027 and 2028 financial years.

This, officials said, means the relocation dispute is not simply about clearing space for a road. The availability of the required land is linked to a much wider programme of land servicing and low-cost housing development in Havana.

Frustrated drivers

For motorists navigating the Havana four-way intersection, the immediate problem is traffic.

The City can deploy City Police traffic officers to help manage the intersection and maintain order, but officials acknowledged that such intervention would only provide temporary relief.

The parliamentary committee’s visit provided an opportunity to look beyond the daily traffic disruption and examine what is holding up the project.

Another complication is informal trading along the main road, officials said. Traders currently operating along the road reserve fear that being moved from their existing locations could result in the loss of customers.

However, the City clarified that these traders are not among the households targeted for relocation.

Instead, the plan is to temporarily accommodate the traders at a nearby location while the Monte Christo Community Market is constructed. The permanent market is planned near the main road, which would allow traders to retain access to their customers once the facility is completed.

For now, however, trading activities taking place within the road reserve are obstructing construction work and contributing to delays.

The City’s position is that the necessary spaces must be made available before the road and associated developments can move forward. The decision to pursue the legal route signals a shift from attempts to resolve the matter through voluntary relocation to formal measures aimed at clearing the remaining obstacles.

During Friday’s oversight visit, committee members, together with Windhoek mayor Sakarias Uunona and senior officials, visited both the road construction site and the relocation areas in Extensions 8 and 11.

The parliamentary committee will now consider how it can assist the City in addressing the bottlenecks affecting the project.

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BOTTLENECK: MPs and municipal officials inspect the congested four-way intersection. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

SITE VISIT: Parliamentary committee members and Windhoek officials assess progress on the Havana road project. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED

REFUSAL TO MOVE: MPs and Windhoek officials inspect the Havana intersection amid delays linked to outstanding relocations. PHOTO: CONTRIBUTED