Survey counts shacks to improve services

A household survey is to be done at some informal settlements of Windhoek, as the city council prepares to bring municipal services closer to the people. The survey, which will start today in the Babylon and Kilimanjaro informal settlements, is to establish the number of shacks in the area. Based on the survey findings, the Windhoek municipality will determine whether the space is big enough for each resident to build a permanent structure there, equipped with taps and electricity meters. This was revealed by Tobias Hainyeko Constituency councillor Zulu Shitongeni yesterday, when he spoke to Namibian Sun at the handover of material and equipment worth N$150 000 to 18 entrepreneurs. According to Shitongeni, the survey was prompted by land grabbing in the area, which led to residents running up a huge electricity bill due to illegal electrical connections. “Land is a challenge. This is why we want to see how many households are in the informal settlements, so the council can determine whether a plot will be connected to the current sewerage network, with its own tap and electricity meter box. “The illegal electrical connections are costing the council millions in losses. This is why we advised that each resident be connected to municipal services, which they will pay for monthly,” Shitongeni said. Shitongeni said illegal electricity connections in the areas threatened the lives of people, as the long cables that run underground do not meet council specifications. Shitongeni explained that illegal electricity connections are tapped from formal houses which are part of the council’s power grid, but their meter boxes are tampered with to sell power. “These criminal activities are dangerous. There are just too many people in informal settlements. This is why the municipality has failed to control how electricity is distributed. As for the water consumption in those areas, it is manageable because the residents have prepaid cards. You pay to get water,” said Shitongeni. Lineekela Kamwanga, 36, who owns a shack on Omuvapu Street in the Ombili informal settlement, told Namibian Sun that she taps electricity from a neighbour’s shack, and that water is collected from a communal tap used by many others. “For 15 years, we have been waiting on the promise to get proper plots so we can start building brick houses from the meagre salaries we get but this has never been realised,” Kamwanga said. “We are just hoping that the survey will be well conducted, as so many people would like to have their own taps with running water and electricity. We too need to be treated as citizens of this country.” This week, a report by the Community Land Information Programme (CLIP) showed that about 500 000 Namibians live in informal settlements. This information was gathered in Windhoek, Gobabis, Grootfontein and Omaruru. The resulting mapping is expected to make possible a complete shack and household registration in order to improve the residents’ living conditions. WINDHOEK FAITH SANKWASA