City of Windhoek targeting 4 000 informal houses for electrification

The City of Windhoek will electrify 4 000 houses over the next five years, Urban and Rural Development Minister, Erastus Uutoni has said. Uutoni was speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for an electrification project in Windhoek's Tobias Hainyeko Constituency on Wednesday. The event, which saw the attendance of community members and leaders, forms part of the City of Windhoek Council's five-year electrification project aimed at addressing the existing backlog of 4 000 un-electrified designated erven. According to the minister, the municipality allocated a total N.dollars 3 million specifically for electrification projects. Uutoni further maintained that to achieve full electrification, between N.dollars 15 million and N.dollars 20 million annually is required. He called on financial institutions to assist in funding the project. 'Electrification is essential to the well-being of our residents in all spheres of life and we must strive at all government tiers to mobilise for the much-needed financial sup port for such projects,' he stressed. Windhoek Mayor Queen Kamati said the electrification project also involves individual electricity connections to 701 households in the areas of Okuryangava, Havana and Otjomuise. In addition, 15 high mast lights will be installed in informal areas throughout Windhoek, she noted. 'The goals of the plan are also to reduce and address illegal connections and theft of electricity, increase access to electricity services within Windhoek's informal areas, and to help council understand the electrification cost of the informal areas within Windhoek and guide in the sourcing funds for the proposed electrification plan,' Kamati added. Source: The Namibia News Agency