20 MAY 2016
COMMUNITY NEWS
Distance between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund to increase by 9km if coastal road is relocated to make way for future SADC Gateway Port 6. A daily commute between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is estimated to last in average 20 minutes, depending on the traffic load and of course the degree to which the motorist commits to the speed limits set for various sectors of the coastal road. This travelling time is certain to change in the course of the next decade when the coastal road will be relocated from the sector leading from the current roadblock near Afrodite Beach up to the town’s entrance in order to make way for the SADC Gateway Port that will stretch inland for several hundred metres. The new coastal road would be relocated to lead closer to the dune belt near Dune 7 and with a wide curve connect to the current coastal road in the vicinity of Afrodite, in essence increasing the distance between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund by an estimated 9km. The good news for now is that the SADC Gateway Port is on the medium to long term plans of the Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) and for now motorists can rest assured that the distance between the two coastal towns will remain unchanged. The B2 coastal road is the life vain for the flow of people and trade between the two coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund and the gateway to inland destinations. Apart from relocating the last section between the current roadblock and Walvis Bay’s entrance, the coastal road is also on the medium term be upgraded to dual carriage way to improve traffic flow and enhance road safety. The road is also a feeder route for the Long Beach, Dolphin Beach and Afrodite Beach suburbs of Walvis Bay with increased traffic flow volumes as these suburbs expand, hence the need to upgrade the road’s vehicle carrying capacity.
Demand for urban land resulted in land grab recently next to coastal road 7. The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, has reportedly visited Walvis Bay last week, after the commencement of Parliament’s recess to personally attend to the ongoing planning process whereby Walvis Bay would make serviced land available for masses of people with no access to affordable land for housing. Walvis Bay, the capital city Windhoek and Oshakati has been earmarked by Government to develop serviced land in the medium term for affordable housing and Walvis Bay is set to make some 3000 serviced plots available in the course of the next three years. On the picture below Kuisebmond extensions 5 and 6 are visible where in the months to come low cost, serviced plots will be made available to the first group of landless Namibians.
Namibia’s urban land question reached boiling point earlier this year when landless people and the Namibian Police clashed when people started to occupy open spaces and started to demarcate plots. On the aerial picture, one of the areas people occupied are marked as number 7. It is situated east of the B2 coastal road close to the entrance of Walvis Bay where the palm tree lane commences.
NAMIB TIMES
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