National council interrogates
National council interrogates

Free land key to address housing crisis

Push for affordable housing strategies
The LPM councillor argued that the housing backlog is due to the failure of authorities to provide land for free or at affordable rates.
Jemima Beukes
Paul Isaak, the Gibeon constituency councillor for the Landless People’s Movement (LPM), has tabled a motion highlighting the urgency of addressing the housing crisis that is affecting a significant portion of the population.

Isaak called on parliamentarians to discuss whether local authorities have failed to provide sufficiently affordable land for housing or if there is a preference for selling land to developers for maximum profit.

Isaak argued “the failure of the central government and local authorities to avail land free of charge and perhaps only charge for servicing land is the reason for the current urban land backlog.”

He added: “Until we change our approach, the urban poor will continue to be landless and will never even own the small plots they had to clear for themselves.”

Costs prohibitive

Citing the Gibeon village council as an example, Isaak highlighted the overwhelming demand for land, with over 1 000 applications pending.

Financial constraints hinder the council's ability to service the land, exacerbating the challenges faced by residents in need of land, he said.

"The village council is in need of financial resources to service land in order to give it to the urban poor and landless residents.”

Restore dignity

Contrary to common perceptions, Isaak emphasised that residents of informal settlements include a myriad of Namibians.

“The perception that the residents of the informal settlements are only the poor and unemployed is not true. You will find teachers, nurses, police officers and other civil servants who had to resort to staying in the informal sector because of the high costs of buying houses as well as rentals.”

Isaak proposed a motion for local authorities to provide free land for housing to the urban poor and landless citizens, charging only for land servicing costs.

He argued that this is a fundamental step to offer a decent living and restore dignity to the people.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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