Stop panel beating the bush

The City of Windhoek this week held an information session aimed at stopping bush panel beating and spray painting activities by spreading awareness on the health effects, legal requirements, control measures of spray painting activities and businesses in Windhoek.

The session was attended by various informal as well as formal business owners all in the trade of panel beating and spray painting. Speaking at the meeting Chief Planner, Urban Planning Division for the City of Windhoek, Browny Mutrifa said the mushrooming of illegal spray painters is caused by business operators who do not have enough money to buy land and build their own premises, “We have a planning dilemma in terms of spray painting premises. Most of the business owners in informal areas say they can not afford land to build their premises on. “They always ask, where will we go if you stop us from operating in our homes?”. Mutrifa also said that because of the land affordability problem, it will take years for illegal spray painting to stop and that there is a need for operating structures to be put in place. He said even though the city and the business owners face a problem of operating areas, no noxious activity may operate from a residential or general residential area except with consent from the council. Also speaking at the meeting Acting Strategic Executive in the Department of Economic Development and Environment of the City of Windhoek, Fred Koujo said the City will be inspecting legal and illegal businesses to check whether they are complying with the rules and regulations set for spray painting. He also expressed his disappointment in that most of the culprits that do not follow the rules and regulations are those from informal areas but were not well represented because of a low turn-out in informal business owners at the meeting.