Backyard shacks tackled

WALVIS Bay mayor Immanuel Wilfried on Friday said council will this week meet to discuss the delivery of land at Farm 37 in an effort to combat the spread of Covid-19 among backyard shack dwellers.

He said this during the governor’s weekly Covid-19 update session at the Swakopmund municipal auditorium.

Wilfried was responding to a question on how the residents of Walvis Bay, who live in backyard shacks, can minimise exposure to Covid-19.

The town is battling increasing cases of Covid-19, which is mainly affecting low-income earners living in backyard shacks in Kuisebmond.

To date Walvis Bay has 105 active cases of Covid-19 out of 150 cases nationwide.

Up to 50% of Walvis Bay’s 120 000 residents live in backyard shacks in Kuisebmond. In a typical yard, there are about 10 shacks of three by four metres, shared by up to seven people.

Residents share very limited outdoor space, a single water tap and an outdoor pit latrine. In some yards tenants are sharing a bathroom in the main house.

“We have tried to put some plans in place. By next week we will give feedback on the municipality’s plan to deal with those who are being evicted,” Wilfried said.

He said the delivery of land on Farm 37 on the outskirts of Walvis Bay is being slowed by the unavailability of services as the law does not permit local authorities to settle people on a piece of land with no basic municipal services such as water, sewerage and electricity.

Minister of health and social services Kalumbi Shangula says the only way for people to minimise exposure to Covid-19 is to adhere to the prescribed regulations.

“Currently the most critical issue is to do those simple things: wash hands, use sanitisers, and the most critical and difficult one: practise social distancing and minimise movement. If people adhere to those practices then of course transmission will not occur,” Shangula says.

While “normal” life continues under stage 3 of the state of emergency, Shangula says economic activities should be carried out within the parameters of Covid-19 regulations.