No need for decongestion at Rundu - Kantema
Kenya Kambowe
RUNDU
Despite being the second most populated town in the country, overcrowding in Rundu's ever-expanding informal settlements is not a cause for concern.
This is according to the town's administrator, Sebastian Kantema, who was responding to a Namibian Sun enquiry regarding a letter, dated 13 August, to all regional and local authorities from urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni, aimed at addressing densely populated areas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Uutoni, authorities are expected to identify densely populated informal settlements or residential areas and develop an urgent decongestion plan.
“The decongestion plan is in response to the Covid-19-related state of emergency and is aimed at saving lives and thus requires a change of priorities where necessary,” the letter said.
However, Uutoni indicated there is no budget for the exercise and encouraged local authorities to use resources at their disposal to address the issue.
Not alarming
Meanwhile, in a telephonic interview yesterday, Kantema, who confirmed having received Uutoni's letter, said they have been visiting various informal settlements in Rundu and there is no alarming situation as far as congestion is concerned.
“We are still looking into those places which are densely populated,” he said.
“We have not discovered any at the moment. What we have seen thus far is fine, but we are still investigating. Our informal settlements here are not densely populated if, for example, compared to those in Windhoek. Ours are still manageable,” he added.
Namibian Sun understands Kantema toured the town's informal settlements last week with Kavango East governor Bonifatius Wakudumo and Rundu Urban constituency councillor Victoria Kauma.
Erven in the Rundu's informal settlements such as Sauyemwa, Ndama and Kaisosi are big, but despite adequate space residents continue to resort to bushes when nature calls.
RUNDU
Despite being the second most populated town in the country, overcrowding in Rundu's ever-expanding informal settlements is not a cause for concern.
This is according to the town's administrator, Sebastian Kantema, who was responding to a Namibian Sun enquiry regarding a letter, dated 13 August, to all regional and local authorities from urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni, aimed at addressing densely populated areas during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Uutoni, authorities are expected to identify densely populated informal settlements or residential areas and develop an urgent decongestion plan.
“The decongestion plan is in response to the Covid-19-related state of emergency and is aimed at saving lives and thus requires a change of priorities where necessary,” the letter said.
However, Uutoni indicated there is no budget for the exercise and encouraged local authorities to use resources at their disposal to address the issue.
Not alarming
Meanwhile, in a telephonic interview yesterday, Kantema, who confirmed having received Uutoni's letter, said they have been visiting various informal settlements in Rundu and there is no alarming situation as far as congestion is concerned.
“We are still looking into those places which are densely populated,” he said.
“We have not discovered any at the moment. What we have seen thus far is fine, but we are still investigating. Our informal settlements here are not densely populated if, for example, compared to those in Windhoek. Ours are still manageable,” he added.
Namibian Sun understands Kantema toured the town's informal settlements last week with Kavango East governor Bonifatius Wakudumo and Rundu Urban constituency councillor Victoria Kauma.
Erven in the Rundu's informal settlements such as Sauyemwa, Ndama and Kaisosi are big, but despite adequate space residents continue to resort to bushes when nature calls.
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