The City of Windhoek (CoW) will allow the public to submit objections to names on its land waiting list, for those who already own a property in the capital to be removed from the list.

CoW Corporate Communications Manager, Harold Akwenye confirmed this in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday while highlighting various resolutions passed by the municipal council last week.

He said the land waiting list for prospective purchasers, prospective tenants and the 2014 mass land applications have been approved, and the current file-based database of the applicants will be converted into an electronic database system and published on CoW’s website for public access purposes.

“Once the list is made public, stakeholders will be requested to update their records. They will also be allowed to submit objections to names on the list on the basis that a person appearing on the list already owns or owned a property in Windhoek, or is the holder of a valid lease with the City of Windhoek. The allocation of land to people on the waiting list, as and when available, will be done in strict accordance with the waiting list,” said Akwenye.

He added that CoW will only give land or houses to people who do not own a property, therefore if a person already has a house and his or her name appears on the list, it will be removed.

Akwenye added that the City will also approach the deeds office to verify the names.

He also announced that Council also approved that the Housing, Property Management and Human Settlement and City Police departments identify suitable sites in informal settlements for the establishment of satellite City Police offices that will be used to implement the controlled entry to informal settlements.

“Some of the challenges encountered include limited public education about controlled entry and an increase in the procedural land occupation which led to resistance by community members. To resolve this challenge, council has approved the appointment of community leadership structures in line with the Development and Upgrading Policy, to hold public education campaigns to educate the public,” stated Akwenye.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency