Outapi council needs land for houses, businesses

A SHORTAGE of land coupled with a lack of funds to compensate homestead owners in order to make way for development, are major challenges currently facing the Outapi Town Council, Mayor Matheus Ndeshitila said last week.

Speaking at a business dinner at the town in Omusati Region on Thursday, Ndeshitila announced that there is a huge demand for residential and business erven to open up for the residents.

He explained that many villagers with homesteads within the Outapi Town boundary do not want to move and thus make it difficult for the town council to obtain land to build on.

The mayor made it clear that the town council is currently trying to convince the villagers to cooperate and be compensated for the loss of their traditional houses, according to government policy.

The compensation, however, is one of the biggest challenges facing the council, which needs money to get people to move away from town land and make space for development.

Ndeshitila called on those who have already been allocated land to develop it or, alternatively, surrender it to the Town Council to sell it to those who are ready to develop it.

Also problematic, he said, are the budget constraints preventing the extension of municipal services to all residents.

According to Ndeshitila, residents have been complaining about dust from the streets and promised that some streets will be tarred soon. Outapi is situated in a low-lying area, which needs a suitable stormwater drainage system to control flooding in the town.

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