Havana vendors demand completion of delayed road project

Street vendors operating along the constructed Ongos-Eneas Peter Nanyemba road, at the Havana informal settlement in Windhoek, have called for the urgent completion of the road project, saying the ongoing construction is disrupting their livelihoods.

According to the vendors, construction on the road has been underway for the past three years with little visible progress, leaving them frustrated and concerned about the impact on their income.

In an interview, a 45-year-old member of the vendors’ committee who preferred to remain anonymous and has been trading along the road since her teenage years, said there are over 3 000 vendors currently operating in the area. She noted that constructors had initially promised to relocate structures to create space and build a market for vendors to operate from – a promise that has not been fulfilled.

“We want the construction to be completed. They said they would move the mbashus (makeshift stalls), but nothing has happened. Why can’t they build us a market? They’ve built markets in other constituencies – why not here? We are also people like them. We’ve been burning in the sun for over 10 years now,” she said.

She further expressed concern over the proposed relocation of vendors to a different area, saying the move would negatively impact their customer base and income.

“If you move us somewhere far, we won’t get customers, we will still come back here. Even if we stay home, we won’t have anything to eat. We have children. That’s why we sell here. We need money to buy bread for our schoolgoing children. The government must please consider us, the residents of Havana,” she said.

Another vendor, Tulonga Moses, expresses support for the road construction, but urges authorities to accelerate the project. She stresses the need for vendors to be allocated a proper trading space, highlighting that street vending is their only source of income.

“We are happy that they are constructing the road, but they should be fast about it because they are taking us away from here. They should also give us a new place where we can sell. This is the only way we feed our children. We don’t want to be put in situations where we go and steal. They should help us,” she says.

Ongos Valley Development marketing and stakeholder relations officer Abed Erastus attributes the recent delays in construction to the illegal occupation of shacks along the road reserve. He says heavy rainfall in recent months further contributed to the slowdown.

The road project, which spans 6.2 kilometres, is valued at N$380 million.

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