LAC cries foul over Northland project

THE Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) has advised residents of Omafo village, who are affected by the development of the Northland City complex at the town of Helao Nafidi, to approach the High Court for an order to stop the development.

In a letter that the LAC wrote to the Helao Nafidi Town Council on August 24, its Director Norman Tjombe said it had advised residents to proceed with such a step unless the town council provided them with copies of the minutes of meetings held by the council and its management committee to discuss the proposed development. The planned Northland City complex will displace the entire Omafo village, whose residents have formed the Omafo Residents’ Committee to push for compensation.The newly created town of Helao Nafidi encompasses several villages around the border town of Oshikango.These include Omafo, Ohangwena, Engela, Olunghono and Onuno villages.This means that traditional homesteads and mahangu fields have to make way for development.The affected residents claim that the Helao Nafidi town council did not properly inform them of the project and that they were just told to move away.The LAC wants the town council to provide residents with copies of its tender board meetings, to show if a tender committee was constituted for the purpose of the alienation of the land and other resources and assets belonging to or under control of the town council for the purpose of the proposed development.Further, the LAC has asked to be furnished with any business plan or information by the developers on which the town council might have based its decision to allow the proposed development and a report of an environmental and social impact assessment study of the proposed development.The LAC argues that its clients were not aware of any environmental or social impact assessment study.A further concern, Tjombe wrote, was that the Town Council appeared to be indifferent to compensating the residents for the loss of their property and other rights, should the construction of the complex continue.The letter said any alienation of the residents’ properties would only be possible with just compensation.The developers of the Northland City complex, Northland Development Pty Limited, has allegedly given the Town Council N$79 000 for compensating residents, but they have not received the money.Tjombe said it appeared that the alienation of the piece of land on which the proposed shopping and entertainment complex will be erected was not subjected to the town council’s tender committee, which made the legality of the alienation questionable.Tjombe said recent media reports had indicated that the proposed development was tainted with serious irregularities, to the extent that some people involved in it had been accused of practices that were tantamount to corruption.”We wish also to place on record that we have advised our clients to approach the High Court of Namibia for an order to review and set aside the decision of the town council to allow the development of the proposed development with appropriate costs order, in the event that you do not furnish us with the documentation or information detailed above,” says the LAC’s letter, of which The Namibian has a copy.Northland City is touted to become the biggest shopping complex in Namibia, covering an area of 500 000 square metres.Approached for comment, Halao Nafidi Chief Executive Offer Christiaan Shivolo said the council had the money to compensate those who would be required to move.He said people would be compensated when it was their turn to move and this would be done according to the value of their properties.So far, three people had been compensated, receiving a total of N$32 000, Shivolo said.On whether an environmental impact assessment has been done, Shivolo said the council and the developers had not reached that stage of the development.”We are doing things steps by step,” he said.He added that the council had no say in how the tender for the construction of the complex would be awarded, as this was purely up to the developers.”We do not interfere with their polices.We are just there to facilitate for investment to come to the town,” he said.Shivolo said he had not yet received the LAC’s letter.The planned Northland City complex will displace the entire Omafo village, whose residents have formed the Omafo Residents’ Committee to push for compensation.The newly created town of Helao Nafidi encompasses several villages around the border town of Oshikango.These include Omafo, Ohangwena, Engela, Olunghono and Onuno villages.This means that traditional homesteads and mahangu fields have to make way for development.The affected residents claim that the Helao Nafidi town council did not properly inform them of the project and that they were just told to move away.The LAC wants the town council to provide residents with copies of its tender board meetings, to show if a tender committee was constituted for the purpose of the alienation of the land and other resources and assets belonging to or under control of the town council for the purpose of the proposed development.Further, the LAC has asked to be furnished with any business plan or information by the developers on which the town council might have based its decision to allow the proposed development and a report of an environmental and social impact assessment study of the proposed development.The LAC argues that its clients were not aware of any environmental or social impact assessment study.A further concern, Tjombe wrote, was that the Town Council appeared to be indifferent to compensating the residents for the loss of their property and other rights, should the construction of the complex continue.The letter said any alienation of the residents’ properties would only be possible with just compensation.The developers of the Northland City complex, Northland Development Pty Limited, has allegedly given the Town Council N$79 000 for compensating residents, but they have not received the money.Tjombe said it appeared that the alienation of the piece of land on which the proposed shopping and entertainment complex will be erected was not subjected to the town council’s tender committee, which made the legality of the alienation questionable.Tjombe said recent media reports had indicated that the proposed development was tainted with serious irregularities, to the extent that some people involved in it had been accused of practices that were tantamount to corruption.”We wish also to place on record that we have advised our clients to approach the High Court of Namibia for an order to review and set aside the decision of the town council to allow the development of the proposed development with appropriate costs order, in the event that you do not furnish us with the documentation or information detailed above,” says the LAC’s letter, of which The Namibian has a copy.Northland City is touted to become the biggest shopping complex in Namibia, covering an area of 500 000 square metres.Approached for comment, Halao Nafidi Chief Executive Offer Christiaan Shivolo said the council had the money to compensate those who would be required to move.He said people would be compensated when it was their turn to move and this would be done according to the value of their properties.So far, three people had been compensated, receiving a total of N$32 000, Shivolo said.On whether an environmental impact assessment has been done, Shivolo said the council and the developers had not reached that stage of the development.”We are doing things steps by step,” he said.He added that the council had no say in how the tender for the construction of the complex would be awarded, as this was purely up to the developers.”We do not interfere with their polices.We are just there to facilitate for investment to come to the town,” he said.Shivolo said he had not yet received the LAC’s letter.