‘Smart village’ at Avis may mean IPBF’s demise
The Indigenous Peoples Business Forum has called for more time to settle debt issues.
A major housing development in Avis on which the Indigenous People's Business Forum (IPBF) pinned its future, is in limbo with the forum facing liquidation.High Court judge Shafimana Ueitele granted an adjournment last week after the IPBF's chief executive Chrisch Siririka submitted a written request the day before the hearing on Tuesday 6 December in which he asked for more time.
According to Siririka, the forum does not have legal representation as they did not re-appoint someone after the previous lawyer resigned. “Our previous legal representative resigned and we saw no reason to seek representation as the former order had been issued and we were confident that we would be able to reach a settlement agreement with (the construction company) China Harbour before December 6,” Siririka's written request stated.
For the past seven years, the project has struggled to get off the ground, despite support from political quarters. This support was shown in cases such as the governor of the Khomas region, Laura Mcleod-Katjirua, launching the project in 2017, or - more recently - when the deputy minister of industrial development and trade, Verna Sinimbo, in early March this year, held a foundation ceremony of this development.
Nevertheless, on 27 August, China Harbour Engineering insisted on the repayment of a loan of N$70 million that the company made to the IPBF. It is on these grounds that the contractor argues that the IPBF should be liquidated.
Siririka said that it took the IPBF until July this year to divide the land into 226 erven. He added that 32 erven had been sold in advance for N$30 million. According to him, this money, together with the land's value of N$242 million, proves that the forum is not bankrupt.
‘Unwilling’
According to him, the delay is due to China Harbour's unwillingness to sign the necessary documents to allow the transfer of the land to the new owners.
In the previous settlement, China Harbour was to sign all the documents in exchange for the repayment of N$90 million, but the Chinese company pulled out of this settlement in July 2020, according to the court documents filed. According to Siririka, China Harbour's refusal to sign is a deliberate attempt to stop the project. He said he is currently negotiating with other investors to get involved to pay off the forum's debt as quickly as possible.
Because negotiations with a potential investor looked promising, he was confident that the payment would be able to take place before 6 December. “Unfortunately, the investor informed us on Saturday 3 December that they would no longer be able to provide the necessary guarantee for their investment. We and all the buyers who have already paid for erven will be seriously disadvantaged if the final order for liquidation,” he wrote.
He made an urgent request to Judge Ueitele to grant an adjournment and to force China Harbour to sign the necessary documents. The case has been adjourned, but the new court date is not yet known.
More information about the planned smart village on Avis is available at avissmartvillage.com.na. – [email protected]