The challenge of urban land

Veteran property developer Bennie Joseph says that municipalities will need a lot of assistance if they have to make enough land available to meet the demand as urbanisation continues to grow.Joseph made the remarks in the build up to the national land conference, slated for October this year, in an interview with Namibian Sun.“Municipalities are not in a position to develop because there is a shortage of money. Government does not also have the money to develop the land. We have enough land but not enough capital,” Joseph said.Without mentioning a specific value required, Joseph said that government would need a lot of money. He added that he did not believe that there was unwillingness on the part of government to develop urban land in Windhoek and other towns. “It will take a lot of money and it is not because government does not want to, it simply cannot. We are in a situation now where the taps have been closed. This has brought the market to a standstill. Speculation has disappeared,” Joseph said. He also felt that policy makers should observe the sentiments on the ground to tackle the land problem with the land conference scheduled for October. “There was no communication on urban land. Those discussions never took place.“Government must intervene and listen to the man on the street. Government needs to find out what the voting public want. People must be realistic [though],” Joseph cautioned.According to him, the first conference did not address the issue thoroughly and there would be a need now to hone in deeply into the matter.The conference will take place from 1 to 5 October at the Safari Court Hotel in Windhoek.Although it is unclear at this point what the exact agenda for the conference will be, it is certain that ancestral land and expropriation, with or without compensation, will take centre stage.During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier this year President Geingob said ancestral land restitution would be discussed at the upcoming conference.Also on the agenda would be the willing buyer, willing seller principle; expropriation in the public interest with just compensation, as provided for in the constitution; urban land reform and resettlement criteria, and the veterinary cordon fence.OGONE TLHAGE

The challenge of urban land

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

The challenge of urban land

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

Login