Walvis Bay mayor Trevino Forbes and members of the municipal council addressed the town’s backyard tenants on land allocation plans on Wednesday.
The tenants were told the municipality would embark on a two-week registration process of backyard tenants, to start in April.
The aim is to determine the number of backyard tenants who are in need of land when the officials visit homes in the Kuisebmond and Narraville areas.
“The process will be divided into different sectors. The officials will write down house numbers and determine how many people are renting shacks at every house. We will give land fairly. We will not have a situation where groups are all from the same location or all members are relatives. We do not want to hear stories about different lists. It is up to the council and central government to provide all the basic needs. We must work together,” said Forbes.
The first 50 residents will be moved to farm 37 outside Walvis soon, and residents have been asking why only that number of people were selected.
Forbes said members of the group were already issued occupation certificates by the central government in 2020, at the same time 50 residents of the Otweya informal settlement received their certificates.
“We found that group on the system when we entered office. When they are settled, the council will have a model of how to continue with the next groups. We will then see what we still need. Any project needs to be approached with caution.
“There are only basic services at farm 37, but more will come gradually. We will do things in an orderly manner. It will cause problems if we move in a big group now, but we will continuously move people. Do not be worried. There is enough land. We will communicate on a regular basis.”
Tenants who attended the meeting said that they were satisfied with the information received.
“It is good that we are informed. It makes things easier, because without information, we will not know what is happening and we will continue having demonstrations. I had questions about the first 50 people to be relocated, but now I also understand,” said tenant Ehafo Ndengu.
“We are eagerly waiting to be registered. Some people have been living in backyards for years, and others are just coming and getting houses. We really need to benefit from this plan,” said another tenant, Ndamono Magano.