THE governor of Erongo Neville Andre, handed over a temporary resettlement for the Twaloloka shack fire victims on Tuesday.
The governor christened the new site Otweya an Oshiwambo name which means “We are coming.”
More than 200 shacks burned down at Twaloloka early on Sunday evening, killing a toddler.
“We want to assure the residents of Twaloloka that the government will realise your hope for a better life. Twaloloka means we are tired, but as sons and daughters of this country, you can never be tired but be strong and soldier on as Namibians.
“It is for this reason that this settlement will now be known as Otweya. No more Twaloloka,” said Andre.
Families have been allocated tents, where they will stay until the permanent site across Twaloloka is ready for occupation.
Municipal bulldozers and graders have been onsite since Monday morning, to level the dunes which will be followed by road preparation and installation of services.
Twaloloka community activist Joolokeni Johannes has since 2016 been engaging local authority management to decongest the informal settlement.
“The municipality has been dragging feet on solving issues. Now we find ourselves with the very same problem we have been trying to avoid. All our homes burned down and there was loss of life. We don’t know if they have a permanent solution to our housing needs,” said Johannes.
A tent recipient Samuel Shishiiveni was grateful for the quick response to assist them but expressed disappointment in the government’s slow response in land delivery to low income earners.
He lost everything in the fire and was only left with the clothes he wore.
“When they move us from here it should be to a permanent place that is not congested and has all services such as water and electricity. We also no longer want to live in shacks or structure built with flammable materials because we have lost all our belongings in shacks,”
The governor explained that the municipality had identified three permanent sites where the people of Twaloloka and those staying in backyard shacks and garages will be settled.
“We have identified three sites which will be ready for occupation between 15 and 20 August.
“These included erven given to us by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) and two portions of land at Farm 37. Please be assured that the government is very committed to its citizens and will always provide the necessary support during crises,” said Andre.
He requested the public to be patient and allow for the identified sites to be prepared while waiting for further announcement from authorities.
