Observer – Page 865 – Windhoek Observer

09 May

Observatory: Lives are worth more than the economy

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, World Health Organisation (WHO)

Clementine Tjameya Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa has listed Namibia as having reported zero cases of COVID-19 over a couple of weeks. I humbly question this conclusion. I am not a doctor, nor do I have any health care training. Admittedly, I can make my choices about what to believe regarding COVID-19 in Namibia, based only on what I read. With the low level of testing in Namibia (maybe only 1000 tests done for 2.5 million people), I am not certain the number of 16 cases can be accurate. Countries with reportedly high infection rate…

09 May

Focus on the basic needs of the people

ObserverUncategorisedCovid-19, Government, people, State of Emergency

. . . anything else is noise Jackie W Asheeke COVID-19 is a game changer. Any business or individual thinking that all will snap back into pre-pandemic shape is delusional. The best thing to do is to lower your barriers against change and thank God you are alive. After that, we all must focus on the needs of the people and step-in to thwart the profiteers, conmen, hoarders, blindly selfish people and other vermin that feed off of other people’s misery. Food stores in Windhoek are raising prices in the middle of a State of Emergency. Government should take legislative…

09 May

The Time Traveler: Towards a freer media

ObserverUncategorisedCoivd-19, Government, media, WPFD 2020

Hugh Ellis It’s a day on which the sacrifices of journalists are honored, and one on which we look forward to greater advances that enable everyone in society to have equal rights to communicate publicly. What is great is that Namibian journalists are not being killed, imprisoned or having their lives threatened. Bribery of journalists is rare. But this does not necessarily mean all is well. Looking back on the tone of many stakeholders’ statements leading up to WPFD 2020, as a career-long media practitioner and educator, I’m a bit disappointed. Politicians and their spokespeople seem to have equated a…

09 May

Slashing salaries bears watching

ObserverNational NewsCovid-19, Ministry of Labour, salaries

The Ministry of Labour wasted time and energy last month making ridiculous noises about regulations to forbid employers from firing staff. Instead they should have gotten ahead of the curve and provided guidelines when employers slash salaries. Mass salary cuts from a wide range of businesses in all sectors are in the headlines. This is inevitable in these unprecedented, harsh and unclear business times due to the State of Emergency and its backlash. There could be thousands of bankruptcies and business reductions in the wake of this pandemic’s devastation. Hundreds of thousands of employees will be affected in some way.…

08 May

E-learning: an expensive, elusive dream

ObserverNational NewsE-learning, tablets

We applaud the efforts of our decision-makers who are trying their best to carry the country through the COVID-19 crisis. That said, we cannot avoid pointing out that recent comment by the Executive Director of the Ministry of Education that the country was never ready for mass e-learning for all learners, is no surprise at all. Who seriously believed that Namibia could substitute home learning using the internet (in English) for primary and secondary school classroom lessons? We certainly did not. The entire effort was a waste of resources. Is our government actually telling the country that it had no…

08 May

Govt measures won’t save economy -NEF

ObserverObserver MoneyDaan Strauss, Namibia Employers’ Federation (NEF)

Andrew Kathindi The Namibia Employers’ Federation (NEF) says the relief package announced by Social Security Commission (SSC) and the N$8.1 billion Ministry of Finance stimulus package are not enough to rescue the economy and businesses negatively affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the lockdown. This comes as the tourism sector, which was meant to benefit from government funding promised by the Ministry of Finance, is yet to receive its allocated N$400 million subsidy. “I think the relief packages announced by Finance and SSC were targeted where the most urgent needs are, and that was for the poorest of the…

08 May

N$220m informal settlements windfall

ObserverObserver MoneyGerman, Government, National Planning Commission, Shack Dwellers Federation of Namibia

Staff Writer The German government will contribute over N$220 million towards addressing the country’s informal settlement problem. The funding will be provided under a wider N$700 million grant aimed at improving the living conditions in the country’s sprawling informal settlements. It will also seek to improve access to land title for the residents. “To address the urgent need for action in the informal urban settlements, Germany also committed N$100 million for technical cooperation for sustainable and inclusive urban development as well as N$120 million for financial cooperation (grants) for the promotion of urban infrastructure. These projects are aimed at supporting…

07 May

Ministry cuts funding to private schools

ObserverObserver MoneyMinistry of Education, private schools, Sanet Steenkamp

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has discontinued funding private schools after discovering it was not uniformly done. Education ministry executive director Sanet Steenkamp said the ministry put a stop to funding after discovering that certain conditions for funding, such as providing scholarships for 10 percent of its enrollment to vulnerable children, was not being met. Some private schools were also heavily reliant on the subsidy and could not prove that they were self-reliant. N$87 million per annum was dispersed to private schools in the past. Steenkamp said that while the economic downturn of the last three years has also…

07 May

Nampol welcomes alcohol ban

ObserverObserver Moneyalcohol, Deputy-Commissioner, Kauna Shikwambi, NAMPOL, NAMPOL Spokesperson

Staff Writer The Namibian Police Force (NAMPOL) has welcomed the newly amended government regulations which have imposed a total ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages during the on-going lockdown, reversing earlier regulations which had allowed alcohol with a content below 3 percent to be sold. Under the new gazetted regulations, liquor is now defined as any spirits, wine, beer, cider or other beverage containing alcohol intended for human consumption, excluding alcohol intended to be used for medicinal purposes. “The amended regulations make it easier for us to enforce the lockdown and we are glad the leaders heeded to our…

07 May

We were ill-prepared – Steenkamp

ObserverObserver MoneyArts and Culture Executive Director, Covid-19, Ministry of Education, Sanet Steenkamp

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has admitted that it was ill prepared to implement the online education demands brought about by the coronavirus outbreak. This comes as student learning was brought to a grinding halt countrywide due to the government’s decision to close schools to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The ministry has been battling to restart classes through e-learning. “I must admit, we were so caught on addressing text book needs, but COVID-19 gave us the opportunity to modernize and to find alternative teaching and learning modalities. We are entering into deep discussions with the Commonwealth…