The Standing Committee on Urban and Rural Development and Land Reform has commended the Aroab Village Council in the ||Kharas Region for establishing a reception area to address uncontrolled informal settlements in and around the town.

Commending the council, the committee described the reception area, which provides basic municipal services, as a proactive step towards orderly urban development.

The committee further encouraged local authorities facing illegal land occupation to adopt a similar approach that balances community needs with sustainable urban planning.

"If there is one town in the country which has similar things like Aroab, tell us—we want to go and see. It is only Aroab. The City of Windhoek must come and learn. They must go to Aroab and learn because they are responsible for their land. The total land of the council is in the hands of the council," said committee chairperson, Elifas Dingara.

Another committee member, Salomon April, added, "If it is well arranged and well organised and basic services are brought to you, there is a sense of dignity. You feel different, not absolutely lost and forgotten. I think that is the story for me to tell, and I go from Aroab to other places. Go to Aroab and see—informal settlement is equally organised and arranged like the formal settlement."

The Aroab Village Council explained that the village has seen an influx of people following the retrenchment of farmworkers from nearby farms due to the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the chairperson Willem Assegaai, the council has temporarily allocated plots in the reception area to landless residents for a monthly fee of N$50 while work continues to fully formalise the area, which is subdivided into 150 plots.

"We talked to the ministry, and it made $N3 million available. We have already paid N$1.3 million for the design. So, we can start with electricity, water and sewerage in that area. Currently, the design is completed."

The council has also constructed over 100 houses for low-income earners under the government’s Build Together Programme.

Plans are also underway to transfer council-owned social houses currently occupied by residents under lease agreements. A one-bedroom social house is rented out at N$100 a month, while a two-bedroom unit costs N$350.

The latest population and housing census shows that Aroab Village has a population of 2,500 residents.