Rehoboth hosts land and housing conference
Challenges and investment opportunities in the spotlight.
The Rehoboth town council announced a two-day strategic land and housing conference to engage with potential developers and investors.
The Rehoboth town council hosts a land management and housing development conference on Thursday and Friday to address the housing situation in the town.Council said stakeholders from different sectors will discuss housing demands and land management challenges in the town.
"The town council embarked on a land management and housing development project recently, aimed at finding amicable solutions to curb the housing demand and land management challenges we encounter in our town," a statement issued by town council spokesperson Desire Pieters noted.
"The objective of the conference is to engage and source input from stakeholders and industry leaders to learn, benchmark, share best practices and partnerships, and at the same time market the untapped potential of our town."
Furthermore, Pieters said the conference would allow the town to highlight its potential for investment opportunities. "It is our goal to market the infinite potential and investment opportunities of our town while at the same time creating awareness, promoting and marketing the untapped potential of the acacia forest," she explained.
"It is our conviction that this initiative will lead to more targeted and impactful strategies that will address the challenges we face in land management, housing development and finding impactful investment opportunities that will ensure access to affordable housing and land for our electorate,” Pieters added.
Action taken
Rehoboth town councillor Jacky Khariseb said the lack of adequate housing in Rehoboth prompted the need for the conference.
He highlighted that, among the challenges faced, processes are slow.
"Realise that people will apply for housing, but the process will be very slow. That’s when you have someone living in a house for over 10 years but does not own it," he said.
In addition, the provision of bulk services remains a challenge for the council, he said.
"Therefore, we decided not to wait for the government but to engage stakeholders, partners and investors so that we could develop a blueprint that would assist the government in providing adequate housing for Rehoboth," he explained.
Pieters confirmed that the council will reach out to the community about the outcome of the discussions in the form of a community information meeting.
According to Pieters, this is in response to community members having said they feel left out.