Walvis expands rapidly
According to the municipality, the value of completed building structures stands at N$413 million.
The municipality Walvis Bay approved and recorded building plans with a total value of N$828.7 million between November 2015 and February 2017.
“The value of completed building structures stands at N$413 million for the same period and include 300 residential properties, 191 flats or apartments, 172 additions to existing structures, 24 industrial buildings and 14 commercial buildings,” deputy mayor Hilka Erastus told community members at a public meeting this week, where she provided an update on capital projects.
She further said that council would attend to town planning matters that will result in the servicing of more than 1 618 erven located in Narraville.
With regard to the construction of affordable houses at Extensions 5, 6 and 7 in Kuisebmond, and Extension 7 in Narraville involving 42 contractors, Erastus indicated the progress to date showed that 539 erven were allocated, 118 houses have been completed, 207 houses are under construction and 214 have been declared non-starters.
“The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) received 100 of these erven. Council also provided blocks of land to SDFN and once all necessary approvals have been obtained from the Namibia Planning Advisory Board and the Townships Board, an estimated 8 000 erven would be yielded.”
According to Erastus, several general residential erven located on Extensions 5, 6 and 7 in Kuisebmond and Extension 7 in Narraville have also been allocated for the construction of two bedroom apartments/flats to be leased to interested persons.
The construction of the electrical and civil services for Kuisebmond Extension 10 consisting of 1 023 erven was completed in May 2017.
Council also implemented a project for the resealing of streets and sidewalks as well as paving of sidewalks at an estimated cost of N$5.5 million.
The project is earmarked to include all suburbs in Walvis Bay and will be implemented gradually over the next months until the end of the financial year.
An amount of N$8.6 million was recently approved for the tarring of roads in Extension 3 in Kuisebmond.
This is the area where the Mass Housing project has been implemented.
About N$48 million was awarded for the tarring of streets in different suburbs of Walvis Bay.
The implementation of the tarring programme was awarded to four different contractors in order to speed up the completion of the individual projects as well as to address the issue of broad-based empowerment for more role players to participate in and benefit from the same programme.
Higher urbanisation
The African Economic Outlook (AEO) for 2016 indicates that Namibia's rate of urbanisation accelerated and now stands at 4.5% per year.
The urban population as a share of total population increased from 28% in 1991 to 43% in 2011.
The rate of urbanisation has been higher than the population growth rate of 3.5% and this led to the mushrooming of informal settlements in the major towns and urban centres.
According to the AEO about 74% of the Namibian households cannot afford conventional housing and only 57% of urban households have access to sanitation facilities.
The organisation is of the opinion that the government's ongoing public housing programme will need to be completed with better urban infrastructure development programmes and further strengthening of rural growth points to create more rural jobs.
OTIS FINCK
“The value of completed building structures stands at N$413 million for the same period and include 300 residential properties, 191 flats or apartments, 172 additions to existing structures, 24 industrial buildings and 14 commercial buildings,” deputy mayor Hilka Erastus told community members at a public meeting this week, where she provided an update on capital projects.
She further said that council would attend to town planning matters that will result in the servicing of more than 1 618 erven located in Narraville.
With regard to the construction of affordable houses at Extensions 5, 6 and 7 in Kuisebmond, and Extension 7 in Narraville involving 42 contractors, Erastus indicated the progress to date showed that 539 erven were allocated, 118 houses have been completed, 207 houses are under construction and 214 have been declared non-starters.
“The Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia (SDFN) received 100 of these erven. Council also provided blocks of land to SDFN and once all necessary approvals have been obtained from the Namibia Planning Advisory Board and the Townships Board, an estimated 8 000 erven would be yielded.”
According to Erastus, several general residential erven located on Extensions 5, 6 and 7 in Kuisebmond and Extension 7 in Narraville have also been allocated for the construction of two bedroom apartments/flats to be leased to interested persons.
The construction of the electrical and civil services for Kuisebmond Extension 10 consisting of 1 023 erven was completed in May 2017.
Council also implemented a project for the resealing of streets and sidewalks as well as paving of sidewalks at an estimated cost of N$5.5 million.
The project is earmarked to include all suburbs in Walvis Bay and will be implemented gradually over the next months until the end of the financial year.
An amount of N$8.6 million was recently approved for the tarring of roads in Extension 3 in Kuisebmond.
This is the area where the Mass Housing project has been implemented.
About N$48 million was awarded for the tarring of streets in different suburbs of Walvis Bay.
The implementation of the tarring programme was awarded to four different contractors in order to speed up the completion of the individual projects as well as to address the issue of broad-based empowerment for more role players to participate in and benefit from the same programme.
Higher urbanisation
The African Economic Outlook (AEO) for 2016 indicates that Namibia's rate of urbanisation accelerated and now stands at 4.5% per year.
The urban population as a share of total population increased from 28% in 1991 to 43% in 2011.
The rate of urbanisation has been higher than the population growth rate of 3.5% and this led to the mushrooming of informal settlements in the major towns and urban centres.
According to the AEO about 74% of the Namibian households cannot afford conventional housing and only 57% of urban households have access to sanitation facilities.
The organisation is of the opinion that the government's ongoing public housing programme will need to be completed with better urban infrastructure development programmes and further strengthening of rural growth points to create more rural jobs.
OTIS FINCK
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