| After the floods, Oshakati now poised for further growth |
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| Written by Staff Reporters | ||||
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Oshakati is on the recovery path after the devastating floods in February and the town council is doing its best to ensure that business and life is back to normal. With the Trade Fair in Ongwediva, the town council hopes to woo more investors.
The message from the town council is loud and clear:
“Oshakati is here to stay, forget about the floods. This is a town that
offers all investors an opportunity to reap good rewards.” Since oshanas or low-lying plains that are easily flooded surround the town, the council has already put its priority towards investing in land. The council is currently negotiating to buy more land so that new buildings can be set up on higher ground, a council spokesperson says. Provision of housing and other amenities seems to be a challenge for the town but measures are being put in place to counter that problem through the establishment of Oshakati North, a new residential and commercial area a few kilometres out of the town centre. “The money has been secured and the area should provide stands for at 2 000 houses. The project should also boost the council’s revenue base and we have entered into an agreement with the national housing Enterprise (NHE) to construct 300 houses in a $40 million deal,” a council spokesperson says. However, the few areas that are currently being inhabited need to be relocated to other areas to make way for the development. The town council is negotiating with the affected families, and the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement and traditional leaders for the terms. The council spokesperson further says the process should go smoothly The Oshakati Town council came into being after the Local Authority Council regional meeting in December 1992/. The first local councillors were sworn in January 1993 and thereby, the town was proclaimed a local authority. In September 1993 the town attained its own financial autonomy and this meant that it was able to run its own financial services for bodies such as Namwater, NamPower etc. In 1997 council took over all staff that were formerly employed by government and engaged them on its payroll in 1994 there were only 10 employees but now that number has increased to 90 people with five departments. In June 1995, the town was fully proclaimed as a town and since then there has been tremendous growth turning Oshakati into one of the major towns in the northern region. Over the last four years there have been many new developments with all major banks being represented. Bank of Namibia was one of the first to set up a regional bank here. Oshakati hospital has now become a referral hospital for the region. All major supermarket chains and shops are also pound in the town. Oshakati’s major attraction is that it is centrally located as far as the northern region is concerned. With a strong population of 42,600 (from the 2001 census), Oshakati plays a very important role for business in that part of the country. |
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