Walvis Bay car wash operators fear losing their businesses and workers’ livelihoods after the municipality gave them 14 days to vacate road reserves along Sam Nujoma Avenue and Independence Road.
The municipality posted the notice on Tuesday, saying its assessments found that the businesses were operating without the required municipal approvals and permits.
Car wash owner Sacky Andreas, who employs eight people, says operators had previously attended meetings with municipal officials, where they were told the area would be affected by road construction.
“We don’t have a problem with the road.
The road should be built. But is there no space left? That’s our question,” Andreas says.
He says operators had been told about three or four years ago by a traffic official responsible for road management that the area was designated for car wash businesses.
Andreas says operators had since invested in their businesses and were paying between N$5 000 and N$6 000 in rent for access to water and electricity.
He says his business washes trucks, including those transporting food and fish, and can wash up to 40 of them a month.
“Now where are we moving? Where are we going to put those containers? Once the 14 days have passed, what happens?” he asks.
Another operator, Rejoice Povanu, who has operated at the site for about 12 years and employs three people, says operators had been told during a meeting about two months ago that they would be relocated.
She says operators were previously told about a possible relocation site near the fire brigade, but no land had been allocated.
“They must give us answers to where exactly we are going,” Povanu says.
Mathew Matongo, who has operated his car wash for seven years and employs three people, says the businesses support families.
“Our children are surviving.
The little they get here, they are feeding themselves, they are feeding their children. So, if we shut down like that, where can we go?” Matongo asks.
The notice states that the operators must “cease all unauthorised commercial activities”, remove “all unapproved structures, equipment, hoses, ramps, water connections and other business-related items” and “fully vacate the affected road reserve”.
The municipality says the road reserves must be cleared because “an official road construction project is imminent in these areas”.
The operators, however, say they are not opposed to the planned road project but want alternative land to be provided before they are forced to leave.
The municipality warns that failure to comply within 14 days would result in enforcement action without further notice.
This could include “criminal prosecution, statutory fines, removal or demolition of unauthorised structures, impoundment of equipment and disconnection of unauthorised utility connections”.
The municipality says all associated enforcement costs would be borne by the responsible parties.
It advised people wishing to operate car washes or other businesses lawfully to enquire about business registration, permits, land-use requirements and the lawful leasing or acquisition of municipal land.
The operators say they want the municipality to identify and allocate alternative land before they are required to dismantle their businesses.
