Placido Hilukilwa
THE town council of Oshakati has this morning started with its second large-scale relocation of residents of the small and densely populated Sky Location.
The people are being moved to a newly established Onawa Reception Area on the edge of the town’s border with Ongwediva.
The relocation affects close to 500 families.
According to Oshakati’s acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kornelius Kapolo, the relocation process is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
He said that the relocation was inevitable because the area where the Sky Location is located is not a residential area; is too small, and lacks basic services.
Those relocated will now have their own plots and have access to basic services.
“We held several consultative and information-sharing meetings with the residents and they are generally happy with the relocation, but as with any development of this magnitude, there are always challenges,” he said.
He revealed that the town council has budgeted approximately N$1,5 million for the replacement of the building material that is damaged during the relocation process.
The majority of the houses in the Sky Location are built with corrugated iron sheets and timber.
The relocation has created temporary jobs. About 90 casual workers were recruited, locally, to assist with the relocation process.
The relocation process was seemingly welcomed by the overwhelming majority of the residents, but it also generated some discontentment, mostly on issues related to inconvenience.
“Being relocated is not a problem. In fact, we welcome that. The problem is that they [town council] did not give us enough time to prepare. Those of us who are being relocated today were only informed yesterday. We needed time to pay the water connection at our new plots, to weed the place, and to at least prepare some rudimental ablution facilities,” said David Medusal, a retired Telecom Namibia employee who has been a resident of Sky for more than 20 years.
His sentiments were echoed by 23-year-old Ana Petrus, who too feels that the first batch of residents to be relocated were supposed to be informed much earlier.
She said that she was born in the Sky Location and is emotionally attached to the place. “But I fully understand that there is a need to be relocated to a better place where services are available,” she said.
People are also complaining about the impact on their kids’ schooling. At Sky Location many learners were within a walking distance from their respective schools, but upon relocating to Onawa, many will now require a daily taxi fare, “a luxury” that some parents can’t afford.
The relocation of the Sky Location is the second large-scale relocation of Oshakati residents in three years.
About 300 families were relocated from the Eemwandi Location to the new Onawa reception area in 2019.
Onawa is earmarked for the development of low-cost houses.
