Martin Endjala
The City of Windhoek Municipal Council has last week approved the establishment of a new township on Portion 317 of Rocky Crest
The new township development will be known as Rocky Crest Extension 8.
The Mayor of Windhoek, Queen Kamati said, the move is aimed at addressing the escalating demand for urban housing and related amenities in the city.
The proposed extension measures about 25 hectares and consists of 227 erven. It is situated to the south of the existing Rocky Crest township, along the eastern boundary of Otjomuise Road, and the northwestern boundary of Bernt Carlson Road. It borders on a small section of the Rocky Crest Extension 5 development.
She said the new development offers a mixed land use concept where people will be able to live and work in the same space and it will support the Sustainable Urban Transport Master Plan
The plan proposes access to the development through collector roads 25 meters wide that will provide enough space for taxi ranks and bus stops.
Kamati said Namibia’s urban centres are experiencing rapid growth, which poses a huge challenge to local authorities in providing serviced land for housing.
“The Municipal Council of Windhoek is no exception, and with a huge influx of people into the city, the demand for serviced land is ever increasing,” she said.
She stated that the provision of serviced land for development is amongst the city’s biggest challenges.
More than half of Windhoek’s residents reside in informal settlements which presents an array of economic challenges.
Maintaining that the proposed development is essential to open up possibilities for housing and economic sustainability.
The Mayor also warned against water wastage, stating that despite the water-saving measures introduced last year, weekly monitoring of water consumption shows that the city has exceeded its water consumption.
Although the city has received good rainfall over the last few weeks, Kamati emphasised that it is still crucial to conserve water.
She repeated earlier warnings about conserving water and stated that if residents do not reduce their water consumption, the CoW will be left with no choice but to impose penalties on people soon.
The mayor urged all inhabitants to remain vigilant about water leaks and wastages in and around their homes as well as their places of work and to make every effort to save water.
She encouraged residents to stay up to date with the latest water conservation measures in the city by following the city’s social media channels.
