Acacia residents angry over broken promises

TEN days short of two years.That’s how long it took for houses in Windhoek’s western Acacia Park area to fill up with floodwater for a second time, following the “freak incident” in 2004 which swept away cars and furniture and forced residents to form human chains to avoid the same fate.

“And the municipality told us this wouldn’t happen again in sixty years’ time,” snorted one resident while hastily loading a bakkie with furniture from his house on Friday evening, amid pouring rain. By around 16h30 on Friday, residents living next to the Arebbusch River in Acacia were knee deep in water, some rushing their cars to higher ground, while others were breaking walls and cutting fences to try and speed up the water flow from their properties.By 18h00, members of the Fire Brigade were going from house to house, urging people to evacuate their homes as the weather bureau had predicted even greater showers later on in the night.Luckily, this did not transpire, and by midnight many people had returned to their homes.Pieter Dorfling and his family had just been setting up a braai that afternoon, ready to celebrate moving into their new house in Umbrella Thorn Street.Dorfling bought the house in October, and had moved in on Friday, just after laying carpets in his new home.By Saturday morning, his mood was anything but celebratory, feeling cheated by both the Windhoek Municipality and the developers of the suburb, Dannic Constructions.”I did my research and I moved in only on assurance that this wasn’t going to happen again,” he told The Namibian on Saturday morning while cleaning his porch.He was aware of the floods in 2004, he says, and this was his primary concern about moving into this area.However, like many of the other residents, he was convinced by the municipality’s explanation that the previous year’s floods had been caused by building rubble dumped in the riverbed, and their assurance of a wall that was to be built around the area to keep water from the river from streaming into people’s houses.”This was not a freak incident, it happened with the greatest of ease,” Dorfling said.A few houses away in Black Thorn Street, two families living next to each other were fuming while cleaning their front yards.”Call us flood victims,” one resident said when asked for her name.Both families had lived in the area during the 2004 flood, and this time their houses were flooded again.”The emotional damage is what counts to me,” said the owner of one of the houses, saying that the physical damage this time around wasn’t as bad as the last time.”My daughter was four years old when our house was flooded the first time, and she was screaming hysterically.Now she’s six and the same thing happened.Is she going to be afraid every time it rains now?” Residents now look for someone to hold responsible for the devastation, but heard on Saturday that the municipality believes them to be responsible for keeping their own properties safe.”How do we keep the water from our houses?” asked a Black Thorn Street resident.”The question is, why did they build on a floodplain?” Many residents spent the weekend sandbagging their backyards and preparing for a possible return of the floodwater.Approached for comment yesterday, Dannic estate agent Jasper Basson said that the media were concentrating too much on Acacia, and that other areas in Windhoek were also affected by the Friday night thunderstorm.”Why do you only concentrate on ruining the reputation of one area? What about Avis? What about all those other places (that were also affected)?” he asked.By around 16h30 on Friday, residents living next to the Arebbusch River in Acacia were knee deep in water, some rushing their cars to higher ground, while others were breaking walls and cutting fences to try and speed up the water flow from their properties.By 18h00, members of the Fire Brigade were going from house to house, urging people to evacuate their homes as the weather bureau had predicted even greater showers later on in the night.Luckily, this did not transpire, and by midnight many people had returned to their homes.Pieter Dorfling and his family had just been setting up a braai that afternoon, ready to celebrate moving into their new house in Umbrella Thorn Street.Dorfling bought the house in October, and had moved in on Friday, just after laying carpets in his new home.By Saturday morning, his mood was anything but celebratory, feeling cheated by both the Windhoek Municipality and the developers of the suburb, Dannic Constructions. “I did my research and I moved in only on assurance that this wasn’t going to happen again,” he told The Namibian on Saturday morning while cleaning his porch. He was aware of the floods in 2004, he says, and this was his primary concern about moving into this area.However, like many of the other residents, he was convinced by the municipality’s explanation that the previous year’s floods had been caused by building rubble dumped in the riverbed, and their assurance of a wall that was to be built around the area to keep water from the river from streaming into people’s houses.”This was not a freak incident, it happened with the greatest of ease,” Dorfling said.A few houses away in Black Thorn Street, two families living next to each other were fuming while cleaning their front yards.”Call us flood victims,” one resident said when asked for her name.Both families had lived in the area during the 2004 flood, and this time their houses were flooded again.”The emotional damage is what counts to me,” said the owner of one of the houses, saying that the physical damage this time around wasn’t as bad as the last time.”My daughter was four years old when our house was flooded the first time, and she was screaming hysterically.Now she’s six and the same thing happened.Is she going to be afraid every time it rains now?” Residents now look for someone to hold responsible for the devastation, but heard on Saturday that the municipality believes them to be responsible for keeping their own properties safe.”How do we keep the water from our houses?” asked a Black Thorn Street resident.”The question is, why did they build on a floodplain?” Many residents spent the weekend sandbagging their backyards and preparing for a possible return of the floodwater.Approached for comment yesterday, Dannic estate agent Jasper Basson said that the media were concentrating too much on Acacia, and that other areas in Windhoek were also affected by the Friday night thunderstorm.”Why do you only concentrate on ruining the reputation of one area? What about Avis? What about all those other places (that were also affected)?” he asked.