Keetmans resident sues council

A FAILURE by the Keetmanshoop Town Council to evict a fellow councillor, Basil Brown, from a plot awarded to a resident through a tender process will cost it thousands of dollars.

A local law firm has informed the council that it intends to sue for damages suffered by its client, Ryno Kubirske. The Namibian has it on good authority that the council decided at a meeting on Monday to opt for a settlement payment of N$6 400 to avert a lawsuit.Additionally, the council decided to finally put the plot in question out on tender within two weeks.The legal action comes after Councillor Basil Brown allegedly illegally occupied a plot for which Kubirske had successfully tendered.”It is our instructions that a certain Mr Brown, a councillor of your Council, remains in occupation of the said camp despite the fact that he was evicted earlier this year and despite the fact that the camp was never awarded to him in accordance with the necessary tender procedure,” the lawyers’ letter states.In 2006, Brown entered into a one-year lease agreement with the council to lease a 60-hectare plot.But when the lease agreement expired last year, and the plot was awarded to Kubirske, the council failed to remove Brown from the controversial town land.At one stage Brown was served with an eviction order to vacate the plot, The Namibian was informed.The Mayor of Keetmanshoop, Simon Petrus Tiboth, and the council’s acting Chief Executive Officer, Bertie Reyneke, declined to comment.Meanwhile, The Namibian has established that the construction of a double-storey building owned by Brown apparently began without any building plan being approved by the Town Council.This has irked many of the town’s residents, who flooded The Namibian with complaints.”What would happen if any of the town’s residents start to build without an approved building plan,” said one resident, who preferred not to be named.Reyneke yesterday confirmed that Brown had been fined N$2 000 for allowing the construction of the building without an approved building plan.A councillor, who wanted to stay anonymous, yesterday told The Namibian that no building plan for the said building had been approved yet.The Namibian has it on good authority that the council decided at a meeting on Monday to opt for a settlement payment of N$6 400 to avert a lawsuit.Additionally, the council decided to finally put the plot in question out on tender within two weeks.The legal action comes after Councillor Basil Brown allegedly illegally occupied a plot for which Kubirske had successfully tendered.”It is our instructions that a certain Mr Brown, a councillor of your Council, remains in occupation of the said camp despite the fact that he was evicted earlier this year and despite the fact that the camp was never awarded to him in accordance with the necessary tender procedure,” the lawyers’ letter states.In 2006, Brown entered into a one-year lease agreement with the council to lease a 60-hectare plot.But when the lease agreement expired last year, and the plot was awarded to Kubirske, the council failed to remove Brown from the controversial town land.At one stage Brown was served with an eviction order to vacate the plot, The Namibian was informed.The Mayor of Keetmanshoop, Simon Petrus Tiboth, and the council’s acting Chief Executive Officer, Bertie Reyneke, declined to comment.Meanwhile, The Namibian has established that the construction of a double-storey building owned by Brown apparently began without any building plan being approved by the Town Council.This has irked many of the town’s residents, who flooded The Namibian with complaints.”What would happen if any of the town’s residents start to build without an approved building plan,” said one resident, who preferred not to be named.Reyneke yesterday confirmed that Brown had been fined N$2 000 for allowing the construction of the building without an approved building plan.A councillor, who wanted to stay anonymous, yesterday told The Namibian that no building plan for the said building had been approved yet.