Murder and mayhem horrify Windhoek municipality
The Windhoek city council has called for urgent interventions to address high levels of violence, home evictions and shack fires plaguing the city.
Speaking at the opening of the ordinary monthly council meeting last week, mayor Muesee Kazapua highlighted council's concern about “societal issues, characterised by murder, eviction from houses and shack fires in the city.”
The mayor said these problems have raised the need for “urgent humanitarian intervention and support.”
Kazapua highlighted the “most painful of these recent events”, namely the murder of Katrina Silas Kasita (38), whose boyfriend is accused of first killing her and then setting the shack in which her body lay alight.
“As a council and government, we condemn innocent loss of lives and call upon Windhoek residents to be tolerant and to exercise respect for human life.”
Kazapua further urged Windhoek residents “not to occupy land in areas that are uninhabitable or difficult to access in case of fire rescue.”
On the issue of housing, Kazapua said council was considering the sale of 231 single residential erven in Rocky Crest, Extension 4. The mayor said the municipality was committed to solving the housing crisis, and therefore continued with efforts to fast-track the servicing of land.
While the Rocky Crest agenda item was carried over for the time being, he noted that these 231 plots were being serviced through a private-public partnership arrangement with Otweya Land Developer.
The agenda also included the sale of 88 single residential erven in Kleine Kuppe, Extension 1.
These plots were serviced through a public-private partnership with Chamac Investments.
The mayor claimed that these projects were “clear testimony that we are hard at work in our quest to make serviced land available to our residents.”
He asked residents to cooperate with enumerators conducting a community risk assessment (CRA) until December.
The purpose of the CRA is to collect information to assess hazards, vulnerabilities and risks, to prepare coping strategies and to implement a risk-reduction plan.
Kazapua also mentioned that the Windhoek municipality had entered into a friendship agreement with the Chinese city of Suzhou.
The two cities will cooperate in a number of areas, including municipal service delivery, local economic development, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports and health.
“We may speak different languages, have different religions and different colours, but at the end of the day we are all human beings,” Kazapua said.
He said the agreement included a working programme that would ensure the implementation of specific projects in the agreed areas of cooperation.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Speaking at the opening of the ordinary monthly council meeting last week, mayor Muesee Kazapua highlighted council's concern about “societal issues, characterised by murder, eviction from houses and shack fires in the city.”
The mayor said these problems have raised the need for “urgent humanitarian intervention and support.”
Kazapua highlighted the “most painful of these recent events”, namely the murder of Katrina Silas Kasita (38), whose boyfriend is accused of first killing her and then setting the shack in which her body lay alight.
“As a council and government, we condemn innocent loss of lives and call upon Windhoek residents to be tolerant and to exercise respect for human life.”
Kazapua further urged Windhoek residents “not to occupy land in areas that are uninhabitable or difficult to access in case of fire rescue.”
On the issue of housing, Kazapua said council was considering the sale of 231 single residential erven in Rocky Crest, Extension 4. The mayor said the municipality was committed to solving the housing crisis, and therefore continued with efforts to fast-track the servicing of land.
While the Rocky Crest agenda item was carried over for the time being, he noted that these 231 plots were being serviced through a private-public partnership arrangement with Otweya Land Developer.
The agenda also included the sale of 88 single residential erven in Kleine Kuppe, Extension 1.
These plots were serviced through a public-private partnership with Chamac Investments.
The mayor claimed that these projects were “clear testimony that we are hard at work in our quest to make serviced land available to our residents.”
He asked residents to cooperate with enumerators conducting a community risk assessment (CRA) until December.
The purpose of the CRA is to collect information to assess hazards, vulnerabilities and risks, to prepare coping strategies and to implement a risk-reduction plan.
Kazapua also mentioned that the Windhoek municipality had entered into a friendship agreement with the Chinese city of Suzhou.
The two cities will cooperate in a number of areas, including municipal service delivery, local economic development, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports and health.
“We may speak different languages, have different religions and different colours, but at the end of the day we are all human beings,” Kazapua said.
He said the agreement included a working programme that would ensure the implementation of specific projects in the agreed areas of cooperation.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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