Oranjemund proclaimed as town after long battle

By: LUQMAN CLOETE

THE town of Oranjemund, until now privately owned by Namdeb, will be opened to the public after it was officially granted local authority status.

The proclamation of the southern mining town as a local authority was published in the Government Gazette of August 1.
The long-standing plan to proclaim Oranjemund as an open town came to fruition following the proclamation of a 90km access road linking Rosh Pinah with Oranjemund as a national road.
Problems with the proclamation of the road had been delaying the proclamation of Oranjemund.
A Government source told The Namibian that the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) planned to hold the first local authority election at Oranjemund in November this year.
The source added that an interim committee was elected to oversee the transfer of ownership of the town from Namdeb to Government.
In May this year, the administration of the town was handed back to Namdeb by the Oranjemund Town Management Company, which had been handling the proclamation process, the source added.
Namdeb will be running the town’s administration until the ownership transfer is completed.

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