After years of limited fire and rescue capacity, Okahandja now has a fully equipped fire station, built through a public-private partnership and handed over to the town’s municipality on Monday.
Chief emergency officer Gideon Maletzky said that for years emergency services at Okahandja were done from the workshop at the municipality.
“All these years we have been without our own fire station. This is a big milestone,” Maletzky said.
He said emergency service personnel are just waiting for furniture so they start operating from the new fire station.
The N$7.3-million facility, according to Okahandja mayor Beatrice Kotungondo, is expected to improve response times and serve surrounding settlements that previously relied on outdated or distant fire services.
“This is one of the milestones at the council that we can look at and say this is what we have done and completed,” she said.
Kotungondo described the completion of the fire station as a major achievement for the town council.
The project began in August 2024 as part of efforts to strengthen the town’s fire and rescue capacity and improve response times for surrounding communities.
Town council member Natasha Brinkman said the occasion was emotional, as she recalled the early stages of the project.
“I can still recall the day that was in my leadership that I called the minister about the construction of the station,” she said.
Ambrosius Mulongeni, managing director at NGC, said the 12-month project faced minor challenges, mainly related to finding affordable land.
“When we started, the land where they were supposed to build was more expensive, that is where they chose the current location at Ekunde Proper. Projects always have challenges but with this one we only had minor issues,” he said.
