Twaloloka fire station money diverted to buying buses

The Walvis Bay municipality is facing stiff resistance over plans to abandon the construction of a N$4 million fire station at the Twaloloka informal settlement and instead use the funds to procure municipal buses.

The informal settlement – which has since been renamed to Otweya – made national headlines in July 2020 when it was ravaged by a colossal fire that destroyed homes, left hundreds homeless and killed a toddler.

The fire station will not only cater for the settlement, but will also provide much-needed firefighting services to nearby shack-ridden areas such as Tutaleni, NamPort and the new municipal houses on the outskirts of the harbour town.

It is expected to serve a community of at least 20 000 people.

The decision to procure buses instead of constructing a fire station has not been met well, especially considering that after the 2020 inferno, several fire-related incidents occurred at the informal settlement.

In fact, just five months later, another fire blazed through the cramped settlement, destroying about 30 shacks.

This year, a fire in Walvis Bay’s Tutaleni left a toddler dead and 100 people homeless.

Abandoned plans

The plan to abandon the construction of the fire station is contained in municipal emails relating to the operational expenditure of the municipality for the 2023 financial year, authored by the municipality’s finance manager Frans Gonteb.

Meanwhile, municipal officials, who chose not to be named, said the distance it takes fire trucks to travel from the Mautamanene fire station to Twaloloka is part of the reason why firefighting teams fail to stop infernos before they destroy homes.

“We can buy and upgrade our equipment, but driving from this station with a truck to the side of Tutaleni has become a challenge. From this station to Tutaleni police station, you have like seven speed humps and so many stops. With a truck, it's a challenge,” one of the officials lamented.

Namibian Sun understands the municipality has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants to make the fire station project, which it now plans to abandon, a reality.

‘Municipal bus for who?’

Walvis Bay rural constituency councillor Tegako Donatus opposed the plan not to build the fire station, saying “the need for a fire brigade is eminent”.

The move also caught Donatus by surprise, saying “I was never personally consulted for my input as a regional councillor affected by the decision”.

“Municipal bus for who? What value will the bus add to the local community? Will the municipal bus act as fire brigade and extinguish fires that are forever in the area?” he asked while responding to questions from Namibian Sun yesterday.

He added: “The budget presentation to the public - which I attended - also was done after the budget was already approved by the regional council”.

Donatus said plans to construct a fire brigade in the area have come a long way and were “budgeted for in the previous budget and it was never committed [to]”.

“My question is what informed their decision? Is it the community that wants the bus as opposed to the fire station? Or is there a reduction in fire cases in the area? I will be happy if we can continue with the fire station to reduce fire in the area,” he said.

Planning ahead

As per its expenditure plans, the municipality wants to reduce the N$1 million budgeted for the construction of a boundary wall for the Narraville sports field to N$500 000. It also plans to spend N$1 million to repair infrastructure at the same field.

A further N$500 000 will be spent on the construction of an arts and culture centre at Narraville.

About N$5 million will be spent on tarring roads in Narraville and Kuisebmond, while there are also plans to make land available on which a clinic will be built in the Walvis Bay Rural constituency.