Members of the Walvis Bay Backyard Tenants Association celebrated councils' approval to grant a large portion of land at Farm 37 to its members.

Farm 37 is an area on the outskirts of the harbour town, identified in 2015 as a solution to the towns' land and housing demands.

The members who were overwhelmed by happiness have been allocated land at portion 19 of Farm 37 to build low-cost housing.

The residents will purchase the unserviced land at a cost of N$2,3 million.

According to the leader of the association, over one thousand residents have already saved three million dollars to cater for the next process.

Councils' approval is only the first hurdle in the tenants' quest to get plots.

The members' applications will still have to get approval from the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, the Namibia Planning Advisory Board, and many others.

"So we can now channel the savings—what we have saved—to the other processes because there are so many processes to follow. We have servicing, the advertising, which will start, I think, next week; that one is already paid for, okay, after the advertisement; and then there are so many other conditions that were set. Some of the people were saying, Is it possible for a plot to cost N$9 000? This was the question, but we had plans; we made our calculations; indeed, it's becoming possible day by day." 

The residents were encouraged to continue saving money in order to realize their dream.