Rural-urban drift ‘suffocating’ Windhoek

UNLESS the rural areas are made more attractive for people to stay there, migration to Windhoek will continue to rise, Councillor Bjorn von Finckenstein says.

Speaking during the monthly City Council meeting on Thursday, Von Finckenstein said unless the trend was reversed it would suffocate the city, which is experiencing a 4,4 per cent population growth. “This urbanisation is an issue that should be addressed on a national, regional, as well as local level,” he said.He said although the city was still able to cope with this growing population, it might not be able to do so in future.Von Finckenstein said the 4,4 per cent population growth was putting tremendous stain on the Municipality’s financial resources for the provision of basic services, which the majority of migrants were unable to pay for.He said it also made financial and infrastructure planning difficult, as it was impossible to plan ahead without exact figures to work with.Not only the Municipality, but also Government Ministries were unable to plan properly under the circumstances, he said.For example, the Ministry of Education did not know how many school children to cater for and the Ministry of Health did not know how many potential patients to cater for.”It is imperative, and also in the national interest, to study the urbanisation process with all its consequences, bad and good, and to come up with a definite plan of action,” he said.- Nampa”This urbanisation is an issue that should be addressed on a national, regional, as well as local level,” he said.He said although the city was still able to cope with this growing population, it might not be able to do so in future.Von Finckenstein said the 4,4 per cent population growth was putting tremendous stain on the Municipality’s financial resources for the provision of basic services, which the majority of migrants were unable to pay for.He said it also made financial and infrastructure planning difficult, as it was impossible to plan ahead without exact figures to work with.Not only the Municipality, but also Government Ministries were unable to plan properly under the circumstances, he said.For example, the Ministry of Education did not know how many school children to cater for and the Ministry of Health did not know how many potential patients to cater for.”It is imperative, and also in the national interest, to study the urbanisation process with all its consequences, bad and good, and to come up with a definite plan of action,” he said.- Nampa