Arandis residents up in arms
Arandis has been put under strict lockdown regulations under Stage 3 of the state of emergency along with Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, but has not recorded any Covid-19 cases.
ADOLF KAURE
SWAKOPMUND
A group of residents, who call themselves the Arandis Concerned Community Group, held a demonstration recently to voice their concerns before handing over a petition to the Arandis town council.
According to the spokesperson of the group, Mieta Ntlai, they do not agree with the rationale for the town's Covid-19 results being counted with the Swakopmund numbers, as Arandis is a local authority on its own.
“We are not happy that our town is being overlooked. Even the recent national high-level delegation who were made up of deputy ministers did not even come visit Arandis to see the set-up, but an ongoing lockdown has been imposed.
“Who is there to engage us as community about Covid-19 matters on the ground from the council side?”
Arandis has been put under strict lockdown regulations under Stage 3 of the state of emergency along with Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, but has not recorded any Covid-19 cases.
Housing issues
Ntlai also complained about slow housing development at Arandis.
“There is nothing coming forth in regard to the building of houses. We as a community want houses built. How many houses did the council build in the past 30 years apart from Rössing houses? How much serviced land was allocated and when? We want answers!
“Recently, we had a few fire outbreaks. Walls and structures of houses have collapsed. All of this is evidently caused by defects of houses that are more than 30 years old,” said Nltai.
Other grievances include household refuse bins, fire-brigade services, allegedly unfair distribution of food parcels, and slow registration of property deeds.
The petition was received by the CEO of Arandis, Stanley Norris.
The community gave the council five days to respond to the petition.
[email protected]
SWAKOPMUND
A group of residents, who call themselves the Arandis Concerned Community Group, held a demonstration recently to voice their concerns before handing over a petition to the Arandis town council.
According to the spokesperson of the group, Mieta Ntlai, they do not agree with the rationale for the town's Covid-19 results being counted with the Swakopmund numbers, as Arandis is a local authority on its own.
“We are not happy that our town is being overlooked. Even the recent national high-level delegation who were made up of deputy ministers did not even come visit Arandis to see the set-up, but an ongoing lockdown has been imposed.
“Who is there to engage us as community about Covid-19 matters on the ground from the council side?”
Arandis has been put under strict lockdown regulations under Stage 3 of the state of emergency along with Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, but has not recorded any Covid-19 cases.
Housing issues
Ntlai also complained about slow housing development at Arandis.
“There is nothing coming forth in regard to the building of houses. We as a community want houses built. How many houses did the council build in the past 30 years apart from Rössing houses? How much serviced land was allocated and when? We want answers!
“Recently, we had a few fire outbreaks. Walls and structures of houses have collapsed. All of this is evidently caused by defects of houses that are more than 30 years old,” said Nltai.
Other grievances include household refuse bins, fire-brigade services, allegedly unfair distribution of food parcels, and slow registration of property deeds.
The petition was received by the CEO of Arandis, Stanley Norris.
The community gave the council five days to respond to the petition.
[email protected]
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