Windhoek grapples with slums
JANA-MARI SMITH
Around 56 000 of Windhoek’s informal settlement inhabitants live with only the most rudimentary emergency services such as communal standpipes and toilets.
The municipality says of the estimated 140 000 people living in the city’s 87 informal settlements, 40% live in areas where only basic services have been installed.
A rapid assessment is scheduled to take place early next year to provide an accurate overview of the numbers of inhabitants and the conditions they live in.
President Hage Geingob last year declared informal settlements a national humanitarian crisis and the municipality says according to international definitions many of the settlements qualify as slums.
“There is no doubt that there is a crisis, more so a disaster in the informal settlements of Windhoek, requiring urgent and focused attention that far exceeds in scope and size all previous interventions,” a presentation to the president in January stressed.
Officials warned that aside from the hepatitis E outbreak that has spread due to a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, the majority of the shacks “are illegal, are built using temporary building materials thus exposing tens of thousands of inhabitants to natural disasters such as floods and extreme weather conditions.”
Tricky
The City’s recently approved Development and Upgrading Policy (DUP) prioritises providing basic services and ensuring reasonable health standards for the ultra-low-income groups living in informal settlements.
But the City’s multimillion-dollar plan faces numerous hurdles, including severe financial constraints and a population explosion that outstrips the municipality’s ability to respond.
“The biggest challenge faced is that the informal settlements are growing at such a fast rate, which makes it difficult to provide the necessary services at the required rate,” municipal spokesperson Lydia Amutenya said this month.
Windhoek’s informal settlements grow at an estimated 7.3% per year, compared to the rest of the region at 3.9% per year, and the country at 1.9% per year, she said.
Municipal officials in January warned that the number of people living in the city’s informal settlements is set to double every nine-and-a-half years.
The municipality said it could not comment on the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia’s (SDFN) estimate that as many as 327 000 people live in Windhoek’s slums.
In response to critics who have condemned the slow pace of formalising and upgrading informal settlements, Amutenya said considering the hurdles “any reasonable person will understand that the challenge is mammoth and the interventions needed should be supportive and urgent.”
Work
By 7 November, 1 200 houses in the informal settlements of Okahandja Park and Havana were electrified, meeting 47% of the electrification goal over five years.
The Office of the President last week said following the declaration of the national humanitarian crisis, upgrading and formalisation initiatives commenced in six constituencies in Windhoek to provide basic services, including water, toilets, skips and graded roads.
Amutenya confirmed that more than a thousand families have benefited from ongoing interventions to formalise and upgrade areas since the start of the year.
The municipality confirmed that the government had allocated N$68.6 million to the municipality this financial year for upgrading of living conditions in the targeted areas.
The DUP for informal settlements states that formalising the settlements and providing full services would cost an estimated N$4 billion.
The policy notes that given the difficulties to raise the necessary funds at once, the DUP proposes that “seed capital of about N$400 million be sourced over a period not exceeding five years from a blend of development financiers or one major development financier.”
City officials in January said that in order to respond to the housing need or access to secure land tenure, it aims to provide land to between 3 000 and 4 000 households per year, of which 2 000 are in the informal settlements.
Amutenya said the City’s strategies and policies are geared towards both the provision of serviced land at affordable prices and the provision of housing.
She said the approach that has shown success is incremental upgrading of services paired with public involvement in the development process.
The DUP states that private and community organisations will be called on to assist where necessary.
Around 56 000 of Windhoek’s informal settlement inhabitants live with only the most rudimentary emergency services such as communal standpipes and toilets.
The municipality says of the estimated 140 000 people living in the city’s 87 informal settlements, 40% live in areas where only basic services have been installed.
A rapid assessment is scheduled to take place early next year to provide an accurate overview of the numbers of inhabitants and the conditions they live in.
President Hage Geingob last year declared informal settlements a national humanitarian crisis and the municipality says according to international definitions many of the settlements qualify as slums.
“There is no doubt that there is a crisis, more so a disaster in the informal settlements of Windhoek, requiring urgent and focused attention that far exceeds in scope and size all previous interventions,” a presentation to the president in January stressed.
Officials warned that aside from the hepatitis E outbreak that has spread due to a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, the majority of the shacks “are illegal, are built using temporary building materials thus exposing tens of thousands of inhabitants to natural disasters such as floods and extreme weather conditions.”
Tricky
The City’s recently approved Development and Upgrading Policy (DUP) prioritises providing basic services and ensuring reasonable health standards for the ultra-low-income groups living in informal settlements.
But the City’s multimillion-dollar plan faces numerous hurdles, including severe financial constraints and a population explosion that outstrips the municipality’s ability to respond.
“The biggest challenge faced is that the informal settlements are growing at such a fast rate, which makes it difficult to provide the necessary services at the required rate,” municipal spokesperson Lydia Amutenya said this month.
Windhoek’s informal settlements grow at an estimated 7.3% per year, compared to the rest of the region at 3.9% per year, and the country at 1.9% per year, she said.
Municipal officials in January warned that the number of people living in the city’s informal settlements is set to double every nine-and-a-half years.
The municipality said it could not comment on the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia’s (SDFN) estimate that as many as 327 000 people live in Windhoek’s slums.
In response to critics who have condemned the slow pace of formalising and upgrading informal settlements, Amutenya said considering the hurdles “any reasonable person will understand that the challenge is mammoth and the interventions needed should be supportive and urgent.”
Work
By 7 November, 1 200 houses in the informal settlements of Okahandja Park and Havana were electrified, meeting 47% of the electrification goal over five years.
The Office of the President last week said following the declaration of the national humanitarian crisis, upgrading and formalisation initiatives commenced in six constituencies in Windhoek to provide basic services, including water, toilets, skips and graded roads.
Amutenya confirmed that more than a thousand families have benefited from ongoing interventions to formalise and upgrade areas since the start of the year.
The municipality confirmed that the government had allocated N$68.6 million to the municipality this financial year for upgrading of living conditions in the targeted areas.
The DUP for informal settlements states that formalising the settlements and providing full services would cost an estimated N$4 billion.
The policy notes that given the difficulties to raise the necessary funds at once, the DUP proposes that “seed capital of about N$400 million be sourced over a period not exceeding five years from a blend of development financiers or one major development financier.”
City officials in January said that in order to respond to the housing need or access to secure land tenure, it aims to provide land to between 3 000 and 4 000 households per year, of which 2 000 are in the informal settlements.
Amutenya said the City’s strategies and policies are geared towards both the provision of serviced land at affordable prices and the provision of housing.
She said the approach that has shown success is incremental upgrading of services paired with public involvement in the development process.
The DUP states that private and community organisations will be called on to assist where necessary.
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