Otweya housing project kicks off
Otweya housing project kicks off

Otweya housing project kicks off

Herma Prinsloo
LEANDREA LOUW

WALVIS BAY



The ground-breaking ceremony and construction commencement of 121 houses at the Otweya informal settlement took place in Walvis Bay on Monday morning.

The minister of urban and rural development, Erastus Uutoni, officiated, along with his deputy minister Derek Klazen, Erongo governor Neville Andre and Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes.

Uutoni said central government made funds available for the servicing and construction of houses at Otweya, for families that suffered after a fire destroyed their homes.

“Congestion will now be a thing of the past since the settlement is properly demarcated with proper roads for easy access, giving space to individual households. Also, residents will also have access to services such as water, sewerage and electricity.”

The minister encouraged beneficiaries to not sit idle but to be ready to help build their houses.

“Don't wait for someone to come and do these things for you. When construction starts, I want you to jump in and help and see to the construction of your houses. I will be back in two weeks to check!”



Appeal

“The successful and timely completion of this housing project will be a source of hope and pride for homeowners in Otweya. I appeal and encourage the contractors [the Shack Dwellers Federation] to make sure that this project comes to pass as per the expected time frame,” Uutoni said.

Furthermore, he encouraged the municipality of Walvis Bay to intensify these kinds of projects, adding that as “a line ministry, I will continue to lobby for more funds for local authorities”. Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes said that the 121 houses to be constructed should be a beacon of hope for every homeless person in Walvis Bay.

“This project should signify that one day, they too will be able to own a brick house. It should be a symbol of what collective collaboration can achieve.

He added that council wants to assure residents that a shack-free Walvis Bay is a dream they are working hard towards achieving.

“Our collective commitment towards improving residents' lives is given expression once again today and remains one of our priorities. I can assure you that with the help of central government, many more projects like this are coming.”

Erongo governor Neville Andre said the area would also receive a playground and a small sport facility, while Naftal Utoni of the Shack Dwellers Federation committed to having the homes completed within two and a half months.

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Namibian Sun 2024-04-24

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Premier League: Arsenal 5 vs 0 Chelsea | Fulham 1 vs 3 Liverpool | Aston Villa 3 vs 1 Bournemouth | Crystal Palace 5 vs 2 West Ham | Everton 2 vs 0 Nottingham Forest LaLiga: Sevilla 2 vs 1 Mallorca | Real Madrid 3 vs 2 Barcelona | Deportivo Alaves 2 vs 0 Atletico Madrid | Almería 1 vs 2 Villarreal | Getafe 1 vs 1 Real Sociedad SerieA: AC Milan 1 vs 2 Inter Milan | AS Roma 1 vs 3 Bologna | Monza 1 vs 2 Atalanta | Salernitana 0 vs 2 Fiorentina | Torino 0 vs 0 Frosinone | Sassuolo 0 vs 3 Lecce European Championships Qualifying: Leicester City 5 vs 0 Southampton | Middlesbrough 3 vs 4 Leeds United | Blackburn Rovers 1 vs 3 Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup: Coventry City 3 vs 3 Manchester United English Championship: Leicester City 5 vs 0 Southampton | Middlesbrough 3 vs 4 Leeds United | Blackburn Rovers 1 vs 3 Sheffield Wednesday Katima Mulilo: 14° | 35° Rundu: 15° | 35° Eenhana: 16° | 36° Oshakati: 17° | 34° Ruacana: 16° | 35° Tsumeb: 18° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 32° Omaruru: 16° | 34° Windhoek: 15° | 30° Gobabis: 17° | 31° Henties Bay: 15° | 20° Wind speed: 26km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 09:35, High tide: 03:35, Low Tide: 21:39, High tide: 15:58 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 32km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 09:33, High tide: 03:33, Low Tide: 21:37, High tide: 15:56 Walvis Bay: 15° | 24° Wind speed: 34km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 09:33, High tide: 03:32, Low Tide: 21:37, High tide: 15:55 Rehoboth: 15° | 32° Mariental: 19° | 33° Keetmanshoop: 19° | 32° Aranos: 19° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 19° | 31° Oranjemund: 12° | 20° Luanda: 26° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 33° Lubumbashi: 14° | 27° Mbabane: 14° | 24° Maseru: 12° | 26° Antananarivo: 16° | 24° Lilongwe: 15° | 28° Maputo: 21° | 26° Windhoek: 15° | 30° Cape Town: 16° | 20° Durban: 20° | 23° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 26° Lusaka: 17° | 29° Harare: 15° | 30° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.84 | EUR to NAD 20.52 | CNY to NAD 2.65 | USD to NAD 19.21 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.72 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.72 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.32 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.83 | USD to EGP 47.84 | USD to KES 133.98 | USD to NGN 1251.05 | USD to ZAR 19.21 | USD to ZMW 26.13 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74010.81 Up +0.62% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1522.16 Down -0.31% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13246.66 Down -0.42% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26777.05 Down -4.86% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9132.5 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 324.88/OZ UP +0.07% | Copper US$ 4.44/lb UP +0.74% | Zinc US$ 2 805.10/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.76/BBP DOWN -0.0065 | Platinum US$ 904.63/OZ DOWN -0.0058 Sport results: Premier League: Arsenal 5 vs 0 Chelsea | Fulham 1 vs 3 Liverpool | Aston Villa 3 vs 1 Bournemouth | Crystal Palace 5 vs 2 West Ham | Everton 2 vs 0 Nottingham Forest LaLiga: Sevilla 2 vs 1 Mallorca | Real Madrid 3 vs 2 Barcelona | Deportivo Alaves 2 vs 0 Atletico Madrid | Almería 1 vs 2 Villarreal | Getafe 1 vs 1 Real Sociedad SerieA: AC Milan 1 vs 2 Inter Milan | AS Roma 1 vs 3 Bologna | Monza 1 vs 2 Atalanta | Salernitana 0 vs 2 Fiorentina | Torino 0 vs 0 Frosinone | Sassuolo 0 vs 3 Lecce European Championships Qualifying: Leicester City 5 vs 0 Southampton | Middlesbrough 3 vs 4 Leeds United | Blackburn Rovers 1 vs 3 Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup: Coventry City 3 vs 3 Manchester United English Championship: Leicester City 5 vs 0 Southampton | Middlesbrough 3 vs 4 Leeds United | Blackburn Rovers 1 vs 3 Sheffield Wednesday Weather: Katima Mulilo: 14° | 35° Rundu: 15° | 35° Eenhana: 16° | 36° Oshakati: 17° | 34° Ruacana: 16° | 35° Tsumeb: 18° | 33° Otjiwarongo: 15° | 32° Omaruru: 16° | 34° Windhoek: 15° | 30° Gobabis: 17° | 31° Henties Bay: 15° | 20° Wind speed: 26km/h, Wind direction: S, Low tide: 09:35, High tide: 03:35, Low Tide: 21:39, High tide: 15:58 Swakopmund: 15° | 17° Wind speed: 32km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 09:33, High tide: 03:33, Low Tide: 21:37, High tide: 15:56 Walvis Bay: 15° | 24° Wind speed: 34km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 09:33, High tide: 03:32, Low Tide: 21:37, High tide: 15:55 Rehoboth: 15° | 32° Mariental: 19° | 33° Keetmanshoop: 19° | 32° Aranos: 19° | 33° Lüderitz: 15° | 29° Ariamsvlei: 19° | 31° Oranjemund: 12° | 20° Luanda: 26° | 28° Gaborone: 20° | 33° Lubumbashi: 14° | 27° Mbabane: 14° | 24° Maseru: 12° | 26° Antananarivo: 16° | 24° Lilongwe: 15° | 28° Maputo: 21° | 26° Windhoek: 15° | 30° Cape Town: 16° | 20° Durban: 20° | 23° Johannesburg: 18° | 28° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 26° Lusaka: 17° | 29° Harare: 15° | 30° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.84 | EUR to NAD 20.52 | CNY to NAD 2.65 | USD to NAD 19.21 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.33 | EGP to NAD 0.39 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.72 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.72 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.23 | USD to DZD 134.32 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.83 | USD to EGP 47.84 | USD to KES 133.98 | USD to NGN 1251.05 | USD to ZAR 19.21 | USD to ZMW 26.13 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 74010.81 Up +0.62% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1522.16 Down -0.31% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13246.66 Down -0.42% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26777.05 Down -4.86% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9132.5 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 324.88/OZ UP +0.07% | Copper US$ 4.44/lb UP +0.74% | Zinc US$ 2 805.10/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 87.76/BBP DOWN -0.0065 | Platinum US$ 904.63/OZ DOWN -0.0058