Mix to be formalised

The City of Windhoek is taking final steps to upgrade the Mix informal settlement at Brakwater north of Windhoek into a township, ensuring access to basic services to the more than 700 households there.At a media briefing last week, the municipality announced that the need and desirability application, motivating the development of the township, was submitted to the Namibia Planning Advisory Board (NAMPAB) in March for consideration.The City is waiting for a response on the application in order to start developing the township.The township extension will be zoned for residential, business, municipal, cemetery, agriculture and several other land uses. Sewer reticulation and a power grid will be developed, none of which is available to residents now.The City has recommended that the current water supply, in the form of communal standpipes, be changed to a pre-paid metering system.“A water reticulation network will be designed and implemented to ensure individual connections,” a municipal spokesperson said.The municipality also announced ongoing improvements being made in providing grid electricity connections to a number of residential areas in Windhoek that are struggling with regular outages or lacking any electrification. The establishment of three substations, at a cost of more than N$71 million is under way.According to Joshua Amukugo, public relations manager at the municipality, the Havana and Babylon distribution substations are expected to be completed by the end of next month. “At last, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and the continuous power outages in the areas bordering our informal settlements will soon be history, as major strides have been made within the first half of this year…” Amukugo said. He said the electrification of Otjomuise Extension 10 and the construction of the Moses Garoeb substation should be completed by the end of the year.The areas to benefit from the electrification projects include Otjomuise 6 and 7, known as 8ste Laan, and Okuryangava extensions including Okahandja Park, Ongulumbashe, Babylon and Kilimanjaro.The entire Havana extension will be supplied by a new substation near Havana Primary School. “Residents should note that this is the first phase in bringing electricity into the area and the second phase, which will commence soon, involves the electrification of the area by installing electrical equipment and cables along all residential streets,” the spokesman said.The third and final phase will involve the connection of electricity to individual houses, Amukugo explained.He asked residents to remain patient during the process and save money for the final electricity connection payable by each erf owner or account holder. The exact fee has not been determined yet. JANA-MARI SMITH

Mix to be formalised

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

Please login to leave a comment

Mix to be formalised

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

Please login to leave a comment

Login