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State House plans shadow Auasblick plots auction

State House plans shadow Auasblick plots auction

THE shadow of Government’s plan to expropriate dozens of properties that are considered as being too close to the site of the new State House complex in Windhoek’s Auasblick appears set to loom over the auction of another batch of plots of land in this upmarket residential area today.

The City of Windhoek is offering 44 erven [plots] in Auasblick for sale at a public auction that is set to start at 08h30 today. Forty-three of the properties up for sale are situated in Sierre Street a street that joins with Engelberg Street, which runs past the State House site and also along Engelberg Street itself.Prospective buyers have already voiced concern over the possibility that the erven to be sold today may also be targeted for expropriation, which Government has said would be in the interest of guaranteeing the security of the new State House complex.The complex is being built at a cost that the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication itself estimated at N$445 million last year.But according to Ndangi Katoma, the City’s Chief: Corporate Communications, Marketing and Customer Care, the final boundaries of the new State House have been verified.None of the properties to be sold today would be affected by the State’s expropriation plans, he said yesterday.However, he did not want to provide The Namibian with a list of the properties that the City had been informed would be affected by the expropriation plan, saying that since it concerned State House there might be security considerations involved, and that he would first want to get clearance to release such a list.If people did not want to believe the city’s assurances on that score, he did not know who would be believed, Katoma added.NOT FOR SALEThe city has already decided not to include eight erven in Sierre Street in the auction, since they fall within the extended security zone that has been demarcated around the new State House site.However, some of these erven would offer no view over the new State House complex, and are further away from what would be the new seat of Namibia’s President than several plots included in the auction today, a visit to Auasblick made clear yesterday.Especially six of the plots to be sold today offer unobstructed views over the State House site.They have not been earmarked for expropriation, according to the city.Two of these erven 578 and 579, on offer at upset prices of N$105 483 and N$163 955 respectively are on a corner of Sierre and Engelberg Streets, with grand views over the southeastern corner of the massive concrete buildings making up part of the new State House complex.Another, erf 577, is a more elevated plot of land offering a similarly expansive view of the site.It is on sale for an upset price of N$274 426 the highest of any of the Auasblick properties being auctioned today.Other properties in Sierre Street, some offering no view over the site, have however been chosen for expropriation.If prospective buyers at today’s action feel they lack clarity on the options facing them, they can at least consider themselves to be in the same boat as about 60 Auasblick property owners who have already been informed that the State plans to expropriate their properties.For them living in an area of Windhoek that offers some of the most spectacular views over the city the outlook over their future remains as obscured as it was when they were told a year ago that their homes were to be expropriated by Government.Since then, several of those affected property owners have told The Namibian, the expropriation issue had gone quiet until late in April.They then received hand-delivered letters from the Ministry of Works in which they were asked to make written representations to the Ministry, which were supposed to be considered by Cabinet when it decided whether to finally expropriate their properties or not.They have heard nothing more.ESPIONAGEIn the letter Ben Kathindi, the Ministry’s Under Secretary of Works who is in charge of the State House construction project, explained that the Namibia Central Intelligence Service had identified the respective property owners’ properties as a security risk in respect of the new State House development.The properties had “been identified on the basis of its elevation and further that it commands an unobstructed view of the development”, Kathindi wrote.”Such location poses a tangible risk in respect of possible espionage, sabotage, subversion, terrorism and other similar activities which may negatively impact on the security interests of Namibia as well as the personal security of the development’s intended occupants including, but not limited to, the Namibian Head of State and foreign dignitaries,” he stated.The Namibian sent a list of questions on the State House project and expropriation plans to Kathindi’s office a month ago today.He acknowledged receipt and said he would be working on a reply a week later, but has still not supplied any answers.This week his office indicated that he would be back at the office only by September 28.According to Windhoek City Council documentation the Sierre and Engelberg Street erven that are to be auctioned today, as well as the other eight excluded from the auction, were developed at a cost of N$6,4 million.In order to recoup money already spent on these properties, the city has set an average price of some N$129 245 per plot of land to total about N$5,68 million as upset prices for the 43 Sierre and Engelberg Street erven to be sold on auction today.The eight erven excluded from the auction had had reserve prices totalling N$1,06 million.Forty-three of the properties up for sale are situated in Sierre Street a street that joins with Engelberg Street, which runs past the State House site and also along Engelberg Street itself.Prospective buyers have already voiced concern over the possibility that the erven to be sold today may also be targeted for expropriation, which Government has said would be in the interest of guaranteeing the security of the new State House complex.The complex is being built at a cost that the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication itself estimated at N$445 million last year.But according to Ndangi Katoma, the City’s Chief: Corporate Communications, Marketing and Customer Care, the final boundaries of the new State House have been verified.None of the properties to be sold today would be affected by the State’s expropriation plans, he said yesterday.However, he did not want to provide The Namibian with a list of the properties that the City had been informed would be affected by the expropriation plan, saying that since it concerned State House there might be security considerations involved, and that he would first want to get clearance to release such a list.If people did not want to believe the city’s assurances on that score, he did not know who would be believed, Katoma added.NOT FOR SALEThe city has already decided not to include eight erven in Sierre Street in the auction, since they fall within the extended security zone that has been demarcated around the new State House site.However, some of these erven would offer no view over the new State House complex, and are further away from what would be the new seat of Namibia’s President than several plots included in the auction today, a visit to Auasblick made clear yesterday.Especially six of the plots to be sold today offer unobstructed views over the State House site.They have not been earmarked for expropriation, according to the city.Two of these erven 578 and 579, on offer at upset prices of N$105 483 and N$163 955 respectively are on a corner of Sierre and Engelberg Streets, with grand views over the southeastern corner of the massive concrete buildings making up part of the new State House complex.Another, erf 577, is a more elevated plot of land offering a similarly expansive view of the site.It is on sale for an upset price of N$274 426 the highest of any of the Auasblick properties being auctioned today.Other properties in Sierre Street, some offering no view over the site, have however been chosen for expropriation.If prospective buyer
s at today’s action feel they lack clarity on the options facing them, they can at least consider themselves to be in the same boat as about 60 Auasblick property owners who have already been informed that the State plans to expropriate their properties.For them living in an area of Windhoek that offers some of the most spectacular views over the city the outlook over their future remains as obscured as it was when they were told a year ago that their homes were to be expropriated by Government.Since then, several of those affected property owners have told The Namibian, the expropriation issue had gone quiet until late in April.They then received hand-delivered letters from the Ministry of Works in which they were asked to make written representations to the Ministry, which were supposed to be considered by Cabinet when it decided whether to finally expropriate their properties or not.They have heard nothing more.ESPIONAGEIn the letter Ben Kathindi, the Ministry’s Under Secretary of Works who is in charge of the State House construction project, explained that the Namibia Central Intelligence Service had identified the respective property owners’ properties as a security risk in respect of the new State House development.The properties had “been identified on the basis of its elevation and further that it commands an unobstructed view of the development”, Kathindi wrote.”Such location poses a tangible risk in respect of possible espionage, sabotage, subversion, terrorism and other similar activities which may negatively impact on the security interests of Namibia as well as the personal security of the development’s intended occupants including, but not limited to, the Namibian Head of State and foreign dignitaries,” he stated.The Namibian sent a list of questions on the State House project and expropriation plans to Kathindi’s office a month ago today.He acknowledged receipt and said he would be working on a reply a week later, but has still not supplied any answers.This week his office indicated that he would be back at the office only by September 28.According to Windhoek City Council documentation the Sierre and Engelberg Street erven that are to be auctioned today, as well as the other eight excluded from the auction, were developed at a cost of N$6,4 million.In order to recoup money already spent on these properties, the city has set an average price of some N$129 245 per plot of land to total about N$5,68 million as upset prices for the 43 Sierre and Engelberg Street erven to be sold on auction today.The eight erven excluded from the auction had had reserve prices totalling N$1,06 million.

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