Africa-Press – Namibia. PATIENCE and perseverance paid off for 121 residents of the tented camp next to the B2 Road at the entrance of Walvis Bay as they today took ownership of brand new homes in the harbour town’s new Otweya residential area.
After enduring much hardship in the tents that were erected after their shacks in the Twaloloksa informal settlement were destroyed by a fire in August 2020, they are now the proud owners of permanent houses. President Hage Geingob travelled to the coast on Thursday to officially handover the houses to the victims of the fire.
“In the aftermath of the 26th of July last year, Government declared the site of the tragedy as a disaster site. Furthermore, the government ensured that the affected people were provided with makeshift shelters, food, blankets, as well as assistance to recover national documents lost in the fire,” Geingob said during the handover of the new houses.
He said that the Cabinet resolved to construct 31 houses for the Otweya fire victims at a cost of N$43 million and that the remaining 43 houses were to be constructed by the Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia with the assistance of the Buy-a-Brick Campaign of Standard Bank.
“I am pleased, that after this tragic incident, we can meet today to partake in the handing over of these houses to the Otweya fire victims, cementing our commitment to address the issue of decongestion of informal settlements, to provide housing to the masses and to improve the livelihoods of our people. We will continue with this strategy and call on all local authorities to support this initiative by providing land where possible,” he said.
Geingob also commended the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, for executing the Cabinet resolution efficiently and effectively. “I would also like to thank the Office of the Erongo Regional Governor for his excellent coordination of the project, not forgetting all stakeholders who have turned this idea into a reality,” he said.
President Geingob urged the owners of the new houses to make sure that they look after their property and not to construct new shacks in their backyards.
The Head of State requested that one of the streets in the new residential area be named after Fillipus Mandha, the 18-month-old baby who succumbed while trapped in one of the shacks that burned to the ground at the end of July last year.
He said the naming of a street would honour his memory. The agenda of the government has always been for the development of Namibia and its people, Geingob added.
“This is explicitly articulated in our Vision 2030, National Development Plans and in the Harambee Plans I and II. Our goal is to ensure that all Namibians have access to the basic necessities for a dignified life such as food, shelter, clothing, sanitation, education, and health care,” he said.
President Geingob said that the welfare of people in the informal settlements across Namibia has been given priority and to this end, the government will not rest and will not relent in its efforts to provide shelter to all.
