Marthina Mutanga
ANGRY residents of the Goreangab Dam informal settlement came to the defence of a struggling family who was staying illegally on land that was earmarked for a community project kindergarten.
The Windhoek City Police prevented the man of the household to build his shack on the land that was where the kindergarten was supposed to be constructed.
Chief of the Windhoek City Police, Abraham Kanime, said the incident occurred on Saturday when a the owner of the shack dismantled the structure partially with the intention to expand it.
According to Kanime, the shack was already marked for removal and that the family that occupied the structure was supposed to be relocated. He said the land was bought by the community to start a project that would have benefited them all.
“He was prevented from rebuilding his house on the same spot and was requested to move to another piece of land which was already allocated to him by community leaders. When he went ahead we had to stop him and after some negotiation he agreed to move to the new location,” Kanime said.
The Windhoek City Police chief said that people should take note that the uncontrolled expansion of shacks is prohibited. He indicated that the uncontrolled expansion of shacks leads to situation where the structures are in very close proximity to each other.
He said shacks that are built too close to each other pose an enormous fire hazard and extreme danger to the people living in those structures.
