Africa-Press – Namibia. SHAROLDINE BOCK and ESTER MBATHERA HUNDREDS of people migrate to Walvis Bay each year in search of employment opportunities. This has created a severe housing shortage at the town.
In an attempt to address the issue, developers have over the years constructed flats and townhouses, of which some have not been occupied for years. However, Walvis Bay municipality town planner Kristy Asino during a recent community meeting revealed they have discovered many people at the town are not keen to live in flats.
“People still want to own their own land, which we understand. That’s why we are creating more single residential erven,” she said.
To create this, the municipality has reduced the sizes of erven from the average 300 m2 to 220 m2 at the low-income areas of Kuisebmond and Naraville. Erf sizes at Meersig have been reduced from 1 000 m2 to about 500 m2.
“We know there is a need for housing at Walvis Bay and we need to accommodate as many people as possible. The other reason is that we don’t have so much land,” she said.
The town planning department recently held public meetings on the Environmental Impact Assessment for the establishment of new townships at Meersig Extensions 3 and 4, Kuisebmond Extensions 14 and 15, Narraville Extensions 17, 18 and 19, and the establishment of a township at farm 38.
Naraville Extension 17 is already bordering state land. Asino said the municipality is in the process of engaging the state to make more land available. The plan is to service Narraville Extension 17 by next year, because it has already been budgeted for in the current financial year.
The creation of new extensions is welcomed by residents, such as Ludwig von Broen, a resident of Narraville and former fisherman, who says he has been waiting for a house for two decades. He is currently living in his mother’s two-bedroom house with his wife, children and brother.
“I applied for land in 2001, but have not received an answer until now. I am already 48 years old; I cannot live in my mother’s house forever. We just want our own house. I work, so I can pay. It is not as if we want free houses,” he says.
He says the local council has to make more housing options available, especially for former fishermen who he claims have no property. Maureen van Neel (40), who has been renting several houses with her family for many years, says she wants her own house.
“My husband and I have been applying since 2006, but nothing has happened. We don’t know if our papers have been thrown in the dustbin, or if they were was not submitted. We have faith in God that something will happen. If we can get a house from the municipality, we can afford it,” she says.
Elisabe Bouwers, another resident, claims people from outside Walvis Bay are allocated houses while residents are not. She showed The Namibian the application document proving her partner applied for a house with the National Housing Enterprise in 2012.
