The city of Windhoek has approved the sale of N$21 million land in Katutura where the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVA) plans to establish a trauma and rehabilitation center
center.
Price excludes value added tax. The decision was made Wednesday night at a lengthy board meeting.
The said parcel is erf 10812 in Katutura. The agreement comes with conditions. One of the conditions is that the MVA, at its own expense, expands and upgrades the surrounding road network.
This includes upgrading Rue Hans-Dietrich Genscher to a two-lane road to Rue Bondel.
The MVA must also extend Leonard Auala Street to allow access to the new center.
“If the MVA fails to complete the sale within 90 days, the award of said erf will be canceled and the property will be awarded to another candidate,” Acting Windhoek CEO O’Brien Hekandjo said in a statement on Thursday. a statement.
In an interview yesterday, MVA Fund CEO Rosalia Martins-Hausiku was elated by the news as she was unaware, saying it was the first step towards realizing a long held dream. .
“I wasn’t aware of the city’s approval. But I must say that this is the first step in this direction. We have widely announced our intention to establish a trauma hospital. The
The first step is the acquisition of land, and other projects will then follow,” she enthused.
Martins-Hausiku was quick to note that the MVA will not be the only cost bearer of the project.
“We need to raise funds for this. Nor should it be managed by us.
There are different models that were presented to us in a feasibility study that was done a few years ago,” she added.
The veteran executive couldn’t say how much the entire project would cost, but was sure he would have sponsors on board.
“It won’t just be an MVA project. There will be various backers for the project,” she said. In addition, the city has decided to sell eight houses built under its affordable housing program. These houses are located in Khomasdal.
“The construction of eight houses in Khomasdal extends the construction of affordable houses from informal settlements to other parts of the city. This is the first time the council will alienate houses, and not just serviced ones, for this purpose,” Hekandjo said.
This will, however, be the first time the city has sold complete homes.
“The council had previously only disposed of serviced land, and therefore the sale of improved erven, particularly with a completed housing structure, is new to the disposal process,” the interim CEO noted.
Two houses are reserved for council employees, while the other six will be drawn from the existing verified waiting list.
There are 17,498 possible candidates for the eight houses.
This is part of the municipality’s drive to provide affordable housing and land at an accelerated pace.
Preference will be given to overqualified residents. It was a thorn in the flesh of affirmative repositioning movement adviser Job Amupanda.
In his view, this means that if the cheapest house is priced at N$860,000, a resident who qualifies for N$900,000 will be at a disadvantage compared to someone valued at N$1.5 million, even if both qualify to buy the house.
This runs counter to logic, if the city is serious about making home ownership a reality for the poorest in society.
“Don’t exclude them,” Amupanda stressed, suggesting fairness must prevail.
The most expensive house is priced at N$1.1 million.
This too appalled Windhoek Mayor Sade Gawanas overnight.
“It’s too expensive. Are you saying the cheapest house is N$860,000? I won’t even be able to afford it. I thought the idea was to make housing cheaper for residents, especially our teachers and security guards,” the mayor lamented.
Strategic Housing Executive Fanuel Manda disagreed with Gawanas.
He said if the city decided to sell the houses at current market prices, the cheapest would go to N$1.6 million.
