City accused of abandoning Brakwater
The City of Windhoek has been accused of abandoning residents of the Brakwater settlement and denying them basic service delivery, while obligating them to pay for rates and taxes like other residents - despite the non-provision of services.
Brakwater residents made their concerns known to Windhoek mayor Joseph Uapingene and newly appointed CEO Moses Matyayi at a community engagement last week.
City officials were also accused of not implementing council resolutions from as far back as 1994, consequently hindering the settlement’s development.
“The Brakwater representatives have undertaken a study of all available related council resolutions and have been able to determine that the majority have not been implemented,” Brakwater Ratepayers Organisation chairperson Bettina Von Wielligh said.
“We have discovered a massive amount of deception and misleading statements, whereby council is either mislead or not adequately informed. This long-standing deception has contributed to the branding of the Brakwater community as renegades,” she added.
‘Unfortunate’
City officials were also accused of failing in their duty to collect waste in the area, Von Wielligh said.
“The City only maintains waste removal on the shoulders of the A1 and the tarred portion of the D1941. The community cleans the streets and road shoulders of all other municipal arterial and other roads.”
Another major sticking point for the settlement’s residents was the failure of the City Police to contain crime, despite an offer from the settlement’s residents that a mobile police station be set-up in the area at their own cost.
“It is extremely unfortunate that the City Police is not prepared to accept the offers made by the Brakwater ratepayers to assist in making facilities available for a satellite police station in the area,” Von Wielligh said.
“The residents have lately been exposed to robberies and personal assaults by criminals that appear to operate from Katutura and the Mix settlement,” she added.
The City further failed to maintain road infrastructure within the settlement, unlike other parts of Windhoek it services, residents lamented.
Give us a chance
At the meeting, Uapingene appealed for patience, saying the municipality would work towards addressing residents’ complaints.
“Can you give us a chance to go back and look into this matter and address it slowly?
“Because there are a lot of things, we cannot solve them in a year or two months,” he said.
Brakwater residents made their concerns known to Windhoek mayor Joseph Uapingene and newly appointed CEO Moses Matyayi at a community engagement last week.
City officials were also accused of not implementing council resolutions from as far back as 1994, consequently hindering the settlement’s development.
“The Brakwater representatives have undertaken a study of all available related council resolutions and have been able to determine that the majority have not been implemented,” Brakwater Ratepayers Organisation chairperson Bettina Von Wielligh said.
“We have discovered a massive amount of deception and misleading statements, whereby council is either mislead or not adequately informed. This long-standing deception has contributed to the branding of the Brakwater community as renegades,” she added.
‘Unfortunate’
City officials were also accused of failing in their duty to collect waste in the area, Von Wielligh said.
“The City only maintains waste removal on the shoulders of the A1 and the tarred portion of the D1941. The community cleans the streets and road shoulders of all other municipal arterial and other roads.”
Another major sticking point for the settlement’s residents was the failure of the City Police to contain crime, despite an offer from the settlement’s residents that a mobile police station be set-up in the area at their own cost.
“It is extremely unfortunate that the City Police is not prepared to accept the offers made by the Brakwater ratepayers to assist in making facilities available for a satellite police station in the area,” Von Wielligh said.
“The residents have lately been exposed to robberies and personal assaults by criminals that appear to operate from Katutura and the Mix settlement,” she added.
The City further failed to maintain road infrastructure within the settlement, unlike other parts of Windhoek it services, residents lamented.
Give us a chance
At the meeting, Uapingene appealed for patience, saying the municipality would work towards addressing residents’ complaints.
“Can you give us a chance to go back and look into this matter and address it slowly?
“Because there are a lot of things, we cannot solve them in a year or two months,” he said.
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