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SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958 NO6381 FRIDAY 22 AUGUST 2014
Your Builders market at the Coast
Struggle over erven at Mile 4 heats up Jade McClune
No less than 12 companies have sought to buy up the last few undeveloped seafront plots at Mile 4 in Swakopmund, but the municipality is standing its ground and sticking to its resolve not to sell any more unserviced erven.
Unskilled labourers get support Marshallino Beukes “Give a man a fish to eat and you feed him for one day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” is a mantra that companies around the Erongo Region are increasingly chanting. Companies such as McClunes Civil Contractors, owned by Steven McClune and Abubaka (Boebie) Abrahams, have made it their task to assist Government with unemployment by bringing unskilled labourers into the market. Over 40 unskilled workers have already benefitted from this Swakopmund-based company’s ideology. The “graduates” have been sent into the labour market as skilled or semiskilled workers, making their mark in the industry as confident, self-reliant citizens, supporting themselves and their families.
The company’s aim is to create job opportunities and training for youth, as well as anyone else eager to acquire skills in the construction sector. No experience, CV’s or educational qualifications are demanded, which paves the way for anyone to apply for a job at the company. The unskilled workers, some with no prior work experience, are paid a salary in accordance with the country’s labour laws. Management is, however, very clear on its strict policies which includes discipline, safety and willingness to work
and learn. McClune and Abrahams started this initiative about five months ago and since then it has been growing from strength to strength. “This is a tough industry and some could not apply to our strict policies, so they left us, but those who pushed through, are today eating the fruits of their hard work and dedication,” Abubaka told the newspaper. Four women also completed the training and these women were even more dedicated and hardworking than most of the men on site, the owners revealed.
One of the women is a single mother and is now promoted to administrative duties. The proud owners showed namib times their completed job at the Strand Hotel, currently under construction, which they did with the help of their own ‘students’. The company has inhouse skilled labourers, who assist beginners in their tasks. What is commendable is the fact that life skills, such as self-discipline, loyalty and respect, are also included in the training process.
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The upmarket suburbs to the north of the tourist resort, with its sprawling beachfront homes and eccentric architecture have become a sought-after destination for the moneyed classes and over the past decade became a focal point of the housing construction boom at the coast. The municipality however faces the competing demands of speculators, developers and high-level military and government officers, who all want a piece of the lucrative pie that is Mile 4. Council recently rejected claims by the Namibia Defence Force that Erven 101, 102 and 103 to the north of Vogelstrand belong to an NDF company. In his March 2008 letter to the Government Attorney, Permanent Secretary of Defence at the time, Petrus Shivute said: “The erven were inexplicably transferred free of charge to the Municipal Council of Swakopmund… We feel that the ownership of Erf 184 Mile 4 should rightly be with Mile 4
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(Pty) Ltd, a company owned by the Defence Force Foundation.” Page 3 In response Council asked the NDF to show Diesel recovered any evidence to support their claim of ownership and set out to provide the evidence to prove Erven 101-102 and 103 belong to the Swakopmund Municipal Council. Following an application from private developers in November 2004, Council had already resolved not to Page 4 sell the remaining land to the west of Dr Schwi- Rock 'n Roll at etering Street, as these Alte Laundry were specifically reserved to be developed by the local authority. On 27 January 2005, Council noted plainly that it “can generate more income by devePage 27 loping and selling the erven without an inter- Jong Sokkerspeler mediary.” Since then it sterf has rejected at least ten more offers from private developers. The disputed erven [101,102 and 103] are the last seafront properties available for township development and are thus very valuable, it was noted at the last
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