THE Windhoek City Council on Monday approved a proposal to establish a committee that should implement programmes aimed at curbing illegal land invasions in informal settlements.
The proposal was initiated late last year when the Windhoek municipality experienced major land occupations at informal settlements immediately when newly elected city councillors were sworn in.
The initiative will introduce a non-confrontational approach in the municipality’s response to illegal land invasions.
Windhoek city councillors at their meeting on Monday also adopted a draft action plan on the prevention of land invasions.
The council in documents seen by The Namibian says the recent land invasion is a matter of grave concern and “is disruptive to orderly development planning and implementation”.
“The situation is not sustainable and as such cannot be allowed to continue as ignorance of its manifestation is a gateway to lawlessness. […] The legal process to evict households is cumbersome and it is for these reasons that total prevention through early detection, immediate removal of unoccupied structures as well as to expedite the eviction of those who have recently illegally occupied land remain the most viable option to have the situation under control,” it is stated in a city council agenda document.
The operations of the multi-disciplinary task team on the prevention of land invasions, which is to be headed by the Windhoek City Police, will be guided by an action plan.
This action plan, according to documents, was also developed “at the peak of the massive land invasion recorded in January 2021”.
“In the quest to curb land invasion, the task team should endeavor to implement the provisions of the development and upgrading policy, regulations, governing laws and international conventions. The approach to be adopted should be pro-development with minimum use of force,” the council documents states.
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