As most local authorities in Namibia, The Municipality of Walvis Bay provides various services to residents and businesses. These include:
Land & development
The municipality provides serviced and unserviced land for development and housing purposes. Land is sold via public auction, tender and direct sale agreements, as land is acquired and becomes available. Walvis Bay is surrounded by a newly proclaimed Namib Coastal (conservation) park, which makes the provision of land a challenge. The municipality has through barter and special arrangements with the various government ministries obtained land to met the demand for housing, business and industrial development projects. With the saltworks and conservation areas to the south and the east of the city, Walvis Bay can only extend its development efforts northwards.
Housing
The municipality is not directly involved in providing housing, but encourages and supports build-together and low-cost housing schemes such as the Shack-dwellers Association, Build-Together Trust and National Housing Enterprise. The municipality has invested more than N$10 mil in revamping the old and dilapidated hostel compound into bright modern housing units. The old hostel compound was a remnant of the Apartheid system, and housed migrant workers in small inhumane living quarters.
Building Plans
The Town Planning Division of the municipality ensures that construction and development takes place in accordance to the Structure plan, building regulations and environmental considerations. This task entails and includes:
Water Supply
Potable water is supplied to residents and businesses. Water is bought in bulk from the national water utility, NamWater. Water is extracted from the large Kuiseb river aquifers and pumped to a number of reservoirs that provide water to Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and the mining industry. The water is continually tested for mineral and bacteriological content to ensure that is is safe for human consumption. The Municipality also provides semi-purified water (purified effluent) to residents for gardening purposes. Residents who wish to make use of this service may apply for PE at any of customer service offices. Download the from here.
Sanitation and Waste Management
A well maintained sewage network ensures that waste water is removed from households and businesses. Some of this water is also purified for gardening purposes only. Municipal refuse teams collect refuse from the different suburbs as per the collection schedule. Each household and business is issued with large refuse bins.
Public Health Services
This division ensures that businesses comply with health, safety and hygiene standards, especially re food preparation. The division also supports and is actively involved in various health campaigns in with the Ministry of Health to address HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other deceases. Other services include:
Tourism & Economic Development
Fire Brigade Services
Traffic Control Services
Library & Museum
Parks, Sport Facilities
Walvis Bay is the only local authority in Namibia that owns and manages its own sports facilities. The sports facilities include rugby and soccer pitches in Walvis Bay town, Kuisebmond and Narraville, tennis courts, a cricket oval, netball fields, public swimming pools,
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