Swakop Municipal Council formalises agreement with local garden owners
By Adolf Kaure.
The Swakopmund Municipal Council granted permission to its economic services department to compile a memorandum of understanding with Maritim Body Corporate and Paddock Gardens Trust that outlines the management of gardens around their properties.
This was recently announced by the Chairperson of the Swakopmund Municipal Council’s management committee, Wilfred Groenewald during a monthly agenda meeting at the Municipal Chambers.
“The draft memorandum of understanding should be reviewed by the municipal council’s legal practitioners, whereafter it must be tabled to the management committee for approval, ” he said.
Groenewald added that for any arrangement to work properly, there should be a formal agreement that clearly states the objective of the agreement and other detail to avoid misunderstanding.
“The proposed memorandum of understanding will include the custodianship and management of the garden, the roles and responsibilities of each organisation as well as the channels of communication to be used.”
“It will also contain the benefits of each party who forms the collaboration, i.e. the resources each partner should contribute, time to harvest the lawn, profits and utilization of resources and shared utilization of grass,” said Groenewald.
BACKGROUND
For approximately 30 years, the Swakopmund Municipal Council entered into an informal agreement with Maritim Body Corporate for the maintenance and upkeep of the public gardens located around the Maritim Complex.
Maritim Body Corporate has in good faith maintained the garden at their own expense thus contributing to the attractiveness of the complex as well as the overall aesthetics of the town and without denying public access to the gardens.
In the same manner, for over 21 years, the Swakopmund Council and the Paddock Gardens Trust entered into an informal agreement for the latter to maintain the Paddock Gardens at their own cost.
However, on 31 August 2022, at its Ordinary Meeting, the Swakopmund Municipal Council approved the request by Paddock Gardens Trust for annual financial assistance of N$100,000 for the next three financial years.
The Council thus saw it as crucial to enter a memorandum of understanding with the Maritim Body Corporate and Paddock Gardens Trust to formalize and strengthen the old relationship.
The Paddock Gardens contributes to the attractiveness and overall aesthetics of the town of Swakopmund. (Photograph by Adolf Kaure)
