N$2,5m Warmbad resort project completed

A NEW multi-million-dollar complex to transform the Warmbad settlement in the Karas Region into a tourist attraction has finally been completed.

Construction of the N$2,5 million complex at the Warmbad hot springs took almost two years. The main objective of the project is to alleviate poverty at the tiny settlement, located 50 kilometres southwest of Karasburg.Members of the community, the Namibian Community-based Tourism Association (Nacobta), the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) and the Karas Regional Council were involved in the project.Community co-ordinator Michael Jimmy told The Namibian that the complex had already been handed over to the Karas Regional Council at the beginning of the year.He said landscaping and access roads to the resort would be completed soon.The inauguration of the complex is likely to coincide with the traditional festival of the Bondelswarts people of Warmbad in October.The hot springs were discovered by the Bondelswarts more than 200 years ago as they searched for water and grazing to feed the clan’s livestock.In 1985 the peri-urban authority sold the springs on auction for N$12 000 to a South African national, George Swanson, to be developed.Until then the springs had been community property.After a long battle by the Bondelswarts to regain ownership of the hot springs because of the owner’s failure to develop the site, Government intervened and offered George Swanson Entrepreneurs N$60 000 to return the hot springs to their rightful owners.The Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provision allocated the N$2, 5 million for the development project.Jimmy thanked the Government for its direct involvement in the project and implored the community to take ownership of the project.He also urged local people to use the opportunity to benefit from spin-off business such as selling crafts to tourists at the resort.According to Jimmy, the management of the facility will be outsourced.He said the decision was taken in collaboration with the community, who conceded that they lacked the management skills to run the daily activities of the complex.The complex consists of bungalows, a swimming pool, thermal pools, a restaurant and an administration block.The main objective of the project is to alleviate poverty at the tiny settlement, located 50 kilometres southwest of Karasburg.Members of the community, the Namibian Community-based Tourism Association (Nacobta), the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) and the Karas Regional Council were involved in the project.Community co-ordinator Michael Jimmy told The Namibian that the complex had already been handed over to the Karas Regional Council at the beginning of the year.He said landscaping and access roads to the resort would be completed soon.The inauguration of the complex is likely to coincide with the traditional festival of the Bondelswarts people of Warmbad in October.The hot springs were discovered by the Bondelswarts more than 200 years ago as they searched for water and grazing to feed the clan’s livestock.In 1985 the peri-urban authority sold the springs on auction for N$12 000 to a South African national, George Swanson, to be developed.Until then the springs had been community property.After a long battle by the Bondelswarts to regain ownership of the hot springs because of the owner’s failure to develop the site, Government intervened and offered George Swanson Entrepreneurs N$60 000 to return the hot springs to their rightful owners.The Trust Fund for Regional Development and Equity Provision allocated the N$2, 5 million for the development project.Jimmy thanked the Government for its direct involvement in the project and implored the community to take ownership of the project.He also urged local people to use the opportunity to benefit from spin-off business such as selling crafts to tourists at the resort.According to Jimmy, the management of the facility will be outsourced.He said the decision was taken in collaboration with the community, who conceded that they lacked the management skills to run the daily activities of the complex.The complex consists of bungalows, a swimming pool, thermal pools, a restaurant and an administration block.