The notice by the Walvis Bay Municipality for illegal structures to be removed has been received with mixed feeling by affected residents.

The public notice, which called on all residents with unapproved and unauthorised structures on municipal-owned land to remove the structures before 31 March or risk conviction, was issued last week.

If the illegal structures are not removed by the given date, residents will be found guilty of the offence and on conviction be liable to a fine and/or imprisonment.

In an interview with Nampa, Martha Namhadi-Haidula, a concerned property owner in Walvis Bay’s Pluto Street, stressed that she wants the municipality to do what is right despite sympathising with those affected.

“I genuinely sympathise with the people who do not have places to stay, but unfortunately they cannot live on our expenses. One will understand my frustration when they have a property surrounded by illegal shacks which downgrades your property value. Secondly, you have to deal with sewer blockages every day because squatters do not have ablution facilities so they are using the bucket system, which forces them to dump waste in the main drain which gets blocked as a result,” Namhadi-Haidula said.

She further added that lack of access to water also forces them to steal water from surrounding properties, increasing property owners’ monthly bills.

“The council must just speed up the process of Farm 37 so that landless people can have a place they can call home,” she said.

Albertina Hafeni, who lives in an illegal structure with her partner and three children, told Nampa the notice has come as a shock to them and has left them questioning where they are supposed to go.

“We know we are staying here illegally, but they cannot just make such decisions knowing very well they have not provided any land or shelter for us to relocate to,” Hafeni said.

Meanwhile, a tuckshop owner in Pluto Street who spoke to Nampa on condition of anonymity expressed fear at the closure of his business, noting that he will lose his household’s only source of income.

“I am not saying operating from an illegal structure is correct, but what are we to do when we do not even have houses ourselves? Doing things illegally was our only way out until the municipality finds a solution to this land issue,” he stated.

Queried on the matter, the municipality’s communications officer Anita Kaiviha said the illegal structures are hampering the town’s Planning Scheme.

“One such project is the construction of a pump station which should ease the constant sewage overflows experienced in the vicinity of Baptist Church in the Namport area of Kuisebmond,” Kaiviha noted.

She said the municipal council is working on relocating these residents, which includes partially developing portion 10 and 11 of Farm 37 on the outskirts of Walvis Bay, at a cost of approximately N.dollars 11 million.

Kaiviha further on the progress of Farm 37 said it remains high on the priority list, but the council needs assistance of N.dollars 108 million from central government for the full development of the area.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency