Oshakati debtors pay up at last

ONLY 37 Oshakati residents are still in danger of losing their homes if they don’t pay their municipal debt by Friday.

The Oshakati Town Council’s property manager, Ores Shilunga, said that 60 of the 97 debtors had settled their outstanding accounts by Thursday. The debt has been accumulating since 1999, when Government’s alienation scheme came into effect to give tenants of low-cost housing the opportunity to buy their homes cheaply.It is a condition of the alienation scheme that the buyers must settle their municipal debts in full.The outstanding debts stood at over N$800 000 last month, when the municipality started serving eviction orders on the defaulters.Shilunga said the remaining 37 residents had been given a final warning to pay up before Friday.”The Town Council has been patient with them for a long time, and this time, there will be no more grace for them, they will be evicted and their houses seized by the Town Council,” he said.The debt has been accumulating since 1999, when Government’s alienation scheme came into effect to give tenants of low-cost housing the opportunity to buy their homes cheaply.It is a condition of the alienation scheme that the buyers must settle their municipal debts in full.The outstanding debts stood at over N$800 000 last month, when the municipality started serving eviction orders on the defaulters.Shilunga said the remaining 37 residents had been given a final warning to pay up before Friday.”The Town Council has been patient with them for a long time, and this time, there will be no more grace for them, they will be evicted and their houses seized by the Town Council,” he said.