Avoid illegal buildings

The Oshakati town council has adopted a strategy for the servicing of urban land to ensure that all its 35 000 residents live in decent conditions.

The town's new mayor, Angelus Iiyambo, said this at the handover of 141 houses to beneficiaries at the town's Ekuku residential area on Wednesday.

Urban and rural development minister Sophia Shaningwa handed over the houses and at the same time officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of 600 low-cost houses in the same area.

Iiyambo appealed to the private sector to help the council deliver serviced plots. He said limited resources were hampering land delivery.

The mayor said the council wanted to curb illegal construction, especially in flood-prone areas, because it did not want people to live in appalling conditions.

Shaningwa said the Oshakati council was the leading local authority in terms of delivery of serviced urban land and the provision of affordable housing.

She said the importance of housing could never be over-emphasised.

“Access to land and housing is central for the attainment of sustainable development, social harmony and economic prosperity in our country,” the minister said.

She said Namibia has a housing backlog of 300 000 units, which the government needs to address through her ministry, local authorities and the public-private-partnership (PPP) initiative.

NAMPA