Shack dweller lobbyist fights for her members Local authorities slow to give land Local authorities are being accused of retarding progress in the allocation of land for members of the Shack Dweller''s Federation.Riled by the slow pace at which local authorities are allocating land to the Shack Dwellers'' Federation, the national chairperson, Martha Kaulwa, rebuked the local authorities during an event at the site where construction of houses for some of the members of her organisation has started. She said it takes years for local authorities to give the organisation land. Kaulwa was speaking last week at the site where the construction of 27 houses for federation members in Ondangwa has started. She said this is the second time the Ondangwa Town Council is giving them land since the last allocation in 2004 when the federation was given 74 plots in the Okangwena location.
Kaulwa said currently, the federation has 2 479 members in Ondangwa, but the federation has only built 101 houses, including the 27 houses currently under construction. “This situation is not only in Ondangwa, but it is the same throughout the country. We need land for our members to build their houses, but local authorities are not giving us land,” Kaulwa said. The governor of the Oshana Region, Clemens Kashuupulwa has called on local authorities to support the Shack Dwellers'' Federation initiative by giving them land. He said the federation is trying to provide decent houses for the poor and low-income earners. “I applaud the Ondangwa Town Council for creating a public-private-partnership (PPP) with the Shack Dwellers'' Federation to build houses for the poor and needy. This initiative is highly recommended for all local authorities in Namibia to make sure that they provide affordable houses for their people,” Kashuupulwa said. Kaulwa said Ondangwa members have contributed over N$300 000 towards the building of their houses. The Ondangwa Town Council allocated the 27 plots to the federation in April 2015 to build low-cost houses. Kaulwa said they immediately allocated the land to their members who started making bricks for their houses in August this year. She said this just demonstrates how eager they are to build houses.
She proudly announced that the federation partners, Standard Bank, Pupkewitz Foundation and the First Lady Monica Geingos, are doing a great job to assist them. Ondangwa mayor, Paavo Amwele applauded the Shack Dwellers'' Federation for speeding up the utilisation of the plots soon after council allocated them saying the promptness really demonstrates the members'' desperation to have decent houses.
ILENI NANDJATO