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07:11Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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LETTERS -
| 2013-07-26
The Plundering Of Old Buildings
Old Buildings
WE FELT a sense of horror when we drove along one of our favourite old streets in Windhoek to find that two of the historical houses in Love Street were in the process of being gutted.
Old timber, most likely the original timber window and door frames, roof trusses and edgings lay discarded on the sidewalk like cheap plastic. Two workers hacked at the existing trees to add to the ghastly pile of rubble.
Unfortunately, we have no photos of these two houses before they were ripped open. Did anyone make the effort to document these pieces of Windhoek’s heritage before they were destroyed? At this stage, we do not have any information regarding this project.
The original walls still stand as we write this, but what is the intention? Were these houses bought up by a developer, with the plan of adding yet more repetitive and insensitive so-called “architecture” to our city-scape? Or was the correct procedure followed?
With any building or place of heritage significance, permission should be sought for any works done to such place. According to the National Heritage Act No.27 of 2004, the current legislation protecting our heritage in Namibia, “works” includes any physical intervention, excavation or action that may result in a change to the nature, appearance or physical nature of a place.’
The National Heritage Act is in place to provide for the conservation of any place listed as a place of heritage significance. This conservation includes ‘a) the retention of the heritage significance of a place or object; and b) the protection, maintenance, preservation, restoration, reconstruction or sustainable use of a place or object.’
A more in-depth investigation of heritage in our city is required – some of our questions include whether these two houses and the numerous other historical buildings, along Robert Mugabe Avenue are listed on the register of places of heritage significance? If not, we fear they will be lost to us all forever.
This is not merely a plea to preserve colonial architecture – this is a plea to conserve the artefacts that have formed our diverse and unique society today – whether of positive or negative association. Whatever they might have been, they form integral pieces of the history that our children can learn from.
It is truly uplifting to see a beautiful building from a bygone era well preserved and there are many like-minded people who share our sentiments.
To see these buildings being demolished or indiscriminately altered to be replaced by nondescript buildings leaves us with a poorer landscape that lacks texture and variety. Surely this is not progress?
We urge the people of Windhoek not to be complacent and to stand together in our battle to save what is left of our architectural and cultural heritage.
Go to www.facebook.com/groups/Archi.heritage.Nam to share your views.
Vanessa Ruhlig & Jacqueline Louw
Windhoek
Unfortunately, we have no photos of these two houses before they were ripped open. Did anyone make the effort to document these pieces of Windhoek’s heritage before they were destroyed? At this stage, we do not have any information regarding this project.
The original walls still stand as we write this, but what is the intention? Were these houses bought up by a developer, with the plan of adding yet more repetitive and insensitive so-called “architecture” to our city-scape? Or was the correct procedure followed?
With any building or place of heritage significance, permission should be sought for any works done to such place. According to the National Heritage Act No.27 of 2004, the current legislation protecting our heritage in Namibia, “works” includes any physical intervention, excavation or action that may result in a change to the nature, appearance or physical nature of a place.’
The National Heritage Act is in place to provide for the conservation of any place listed as a place of heritage significance. This conservation includes ‘a) the retention of the heritage significance of a place or object; and b) the protection, maintenance, preservation, restoration, reconstruction or sustainable use of a place or object.’
A more in-depth investigation of heritage in our city is required – some of our questions include whether these two houses and the numerous other historical buildings, along Robert Mugabe Avenue are listed on the register of places of heritage significance? If not, we fear they will be lost to us all forever.
This is not merely a plea to preserve colonial architecture – this is a plea to conserve the artefacts that have formed our diverse and unique society today – whether of positive or negative association. Whatever they might have been, they form integral pieces of the history that our children can learn from.
It is truly uplifting to see a beautiful building from a bygone era well preserved and there are many like-minded people who share our sentiments.
To see these buildings being demolished or indiscriminately altered to be replaced by nondescript buildings leaves us with a poorer landscape that lacks texture and variety. Surely this is not progress?
We urge the people of Windhoek not to be complacent and to stand together in our battle to save what is left of our architectural and cultural heritage.
Go to www.facebook.com/groups/Archi.heritage.Nam to share your views.
Vanessa Ruhlig & Jacqueline Louw
Windhoek
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