Havana (Windhoek suburb)

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Havana-Windhoek
Havana informal settlement
Informal settlement in Windhoek2.jpg
Havana informal settlement
Namibia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Havana-Windhoek
Location of Havana in Khomas
Coordinates: 22°30′43″S17°01′57″E / 22.5118832°S 17.0325749°E / -22.5118832; 17.0325749
Country Flag of Namibia.svg Namibia
Region Khomas Region
CityWindhoek, Namibia
Named for Capital city of Cuba
Drinking water supply A community water card tap.jpg
Drinking water supply

Havana is a suburb of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is one of the most impoverished informal settlements in Windhoek. Havana is located northwest of Windhoek, in the Khomas region. [1] It was named after the capital city of Cuba. [2] It was established about two decades ago when the City of Windhoek experienced a high rate of urbanisation due to many people travelling to the capital city for a better way of living and for employment purposes. [3]

Contents

Locales

There are two schools in the area: Havana Secondary Project School and Havana Primary School. Havana Usave Shoprite is another notable place that exists in the area. There is also a dumping site in the Havana informal settlement. [4]

Way of life

Approximately 400 people living in this settlement do not own any land and they are renting. [5] People from this area want their own land since they are living in overcrowded conditions, which robs them of their rights to live in a safe environment, as well as the right to health and protection. [5] There is a scarcity of water electricity and few toilets in the settlement which people share. [6] [7] The residents of Havana have been living with water scarcity since a pre-paid water tap was damaged in mid-December 2018, which serves about 253 households in the area. [8] [9] Since there is no electricity in the area, residents connect the electricity illegally. [10] "The Namibian" reported on Wednesday 2014 that about 150 illegal electrical connections in Havana were disconnected by the city of Windhoek. [10]

Worldplace

There is a well known worldplace in this suburb called Havana four way whereby many street vendors of Havana sell their goods. [11] [12] It's proposed that very soon the place will be provided with traffic lights. [13]

Crime rate

Havana is one of the settlements with a high crime rate. [14] The settlement has a high crime rate partially because too many shacks and households lack electricity, thus making it easy for criminals to carry out their activities. [15]

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References

  1. "Havana St in Windhoek - Khomas Region - myAfrica.info". www.myafrica.info. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  2. Namibian, The. "Hepatitis hits Havana hard". The Namibian. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  3. Namibian, The. "Havana residents unhappy about slow road upgrade". The Namibian. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  4. "Havana residents kick up stink over vendors". Truth, for its own sake. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  5. 1 2 "Windhoek informal settlers in desperate plea for land". The Namibian . 11 February 2020.
  6. "One toilet for 45 households". Truth, for its own sake. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  7. Namibian, The. "Havana sanitation woes". The Namibian. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  8. Namibian, The. "Havana residents bemoan water scarcity". The Namibian. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  9. "Some residents of Havana informal settlement in Windhoek's Moses Garoeb Constituency complain about water scarcity". www.namibianewsdigest.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. 1 2 Namibian, The. "City acts on Havana's illegal power connections". The Namibian. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  11. "Havana Four Way . - Windhoek - WorldPlaces". namibia.worldplaces.me. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  12. "Absence of traffic lights at Havana four-way causes chaos | nbc". nbcnews.na. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  13. "Havana Four Way to get traffic light". Namibia Daily News. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  14. "Crime stalks Rocky Crest". Truth, for its own sake. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  15. "Housebreaking tops crime-wave in Havana". Truth, for its own sake. Retrieved 2022-07-14.