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Namibia: City Council to Assist Poor Households
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New Era (Windhoek)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
John Ekongo
Windhoek
The City of Windhoek Council announced at a meeting last week that it plans to introduce a policy to assist residents who are unable to pay for municipal services.
The objective of the City of Windhoek Assistance to Designated Households policy is to provide a lump sum amount per month on the municipal services account to qualifying residents who are unable to pay for normal municipal services.
The money will be credited to the accounts of the designated households, which will reflect a direct credit to such accounts. Council will set a monthly limit. Should the amount due be less than the approved limit, Council will simply settle the account in full. The Windhoek Municipality hopes that by implementing this policy, it would be ensured that poor households would have at least basic municipal services. The policy received the nod from the city councillors and is only awaiting ministerial approval before implementation. Figures would be decided upon after approval.
However, certain criteria will be observed, for example, Council would assist households where the breadwinner is a pensioner or a social welfare case and does receive a social pension from the Ministry of Health and Social Service. A resident must also be a full-time occupant of the property concerned, and may not own any other property in or outside the Windhoek municipal area.
The Windhoek Municipality noted in this regard that it would need collaborative assistance from other stakeholders. To this end, the Council meeting proposed that stakeholders such as Nampower, Namwater and the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, housing and Rural Development be approached to solicit support to make the policy sustainable.
The assistance policy might well prove to be a welcome relief for many poor households in Windhoek.
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In the past, the City of Windhoek was criticised by the public and some members of Parliament for not being compassionate enough to its residents, especially old age pensioners and the unemployed who cannot afford to pay municipal bills.
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