National News – Page 417

12 May

Seibeb says Uutoni has no mental capacity

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Stefanus Nashama Landless People’s Movement Member of Parliament, Henny Seibeb, says Urban and Rural Development Minister, Erastus Uutoni has no mental capacity to analyse and investigate before writing a letter to the Mayor of Keetmanshoop. The Parliamentarian made these remarks yesterday at a press conference in response to Minister Uutoni who apparently wrote a letter on 5 May to the Keetmanshoop Municipality, in which he allegedly claimed the Council has allocated unserviced land to the residents. Seibeb said the Minister has relied on rumours and gossip in writing a letter, “he has no evidence that unserviced land was distributed”. “Uutoni…

12 May

PM given 25 days to resolve the mass housing conundrum

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The Popular Democratic Movement and Official Opposition leader, Mchenry Venaani, has given Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila 25 days to resolve the issue of 890 unoccupied houses that were built as part of the mass housing program dating back seven years ago. Venaani said yesterday that failure to respond to the letter issued on the of 20th July 2022, will prompt the PDM and other progressive forces to demonstrate and even to take up arms in solidarity. He said that not allocating these 890 vacant houses to families in dire need, warrants a direct violation of Article 8 (2) (b) of…

12 May

Cloven-hoofed animals must be supplied south of the Red Line

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Stefanus Nashama Popular Democratic Movement Leader, McHenry Venaani, has called on the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Calle Schlettwein to speed up the process of targeted interventions and modalities for cloven-hoofed animals to be supplied south of the veterinary cordon fence also known as the Red Line. Venaani said this is appropriate to ensure that veterinary facilities such as quarantine facilities and all related agricultural infrastructure and architecture are of the necessary quality to provide farmers north of the Red Line with the necessary access to the lucrative markets available to farmers to the south of the line.…

12 May

Robust petroleum policy must benefit all Namibians

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Niël Terblanché The development of a sturdy National Upstream Petroleum Local Content Policy and eventual implementation thereof will enable Namibians from all walks of life to participate in the country’s exciting hydrocarbon future. Local Content Policies (LCP) have become a key priority of host governments and industry players alike. Increasingly more resource-rich developing countries are enacting local content legislation as a means of maximising the benefits to be gained from petroleum and other industries. Given this reality, the Namibian Government have equally decided to adopt this instrument with the objective to increase local participation in the value chain of goods…

12 May

NWR records an increase in revenue

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Staff Writer Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) recorded a revenue of N$290 million during 2022. This is according to the company’s annual report to the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, Minister Ipumbu Shiimi. “During the year under review, NWR managed to cut its operating loss by 66%, from N$97 million in 2021 to N$33 million in 2022. Revenue improved by 74%, from N$167 million in 2021 to N$290 million,” said Nelson Muremi Ashipala, NWR Manager of Corporate Communications in the report. In addition, he said the company achieved a clean audit for the first time, indicating its commitment to effective…

12 May

Financial injection will accelerate the repair of Walvis Bay streets

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Niël Terblanché A new Memorandum of Agreement between the Walvis Bay Municipality, the Road Fund Administration (RFA), and the Road Authority (RA) will inject almost N$250 million into the project to repair and maintain the port city’s streets. In an announcement, the port city’s municipality said the RFA has committed N$248 million as part of the tripartite agreement over the next five years. During the signing ceremony the Chief Executive Officer of the RFA, Ali Ipinge said the N$248 million which is derived from the Road User Charges, will be used for the rehabilitation and widening of municipal roads leading…

12 May

Property raffle announces bonus winners

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Niël Terblanché Two men from outside the borders of Namibia were the lucky winners of the bonus draw of the Namibia Property Raffle project. Alex Zavatoni from the United States won N$12 000 and a South African, Ruan Fourie, bagged N$8 000 in the draw barely five weeks after the launch of Namibia’s biggest ever raffle with an eventual prize with a combined value of a whopping N$29 million. The big pot is two valuable properties inside the Windhoek city boundaries. Basil Smit, owner of namibiapropertyraffle.com, said the integrity of the raffle was now demonstrated and the fact that two…

12 May

The race is on for the Keetmanshoop by-election

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Martin Endjala The pressure is on for the five candidates contesting in the Keetmanshoop Rural Constituency by-election that will take place on Monday. The fate of the candidates will be decided when the electorate will go to the polling stations to vote for a suitable new representative on the constituency council. The seat became vacant after the Landless People’s Movement expelled Gerrit Witbooi on 14 February. The country’s election laws dictate that a by-election must be held within 90 days after a vacancy occurs. Witbooi fell out of favour with LPM when he reportedly refused to follow the party’s directive…

12 May

Labour Ministry hits back at Prisons boss on tattoos

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Hertta-Maria Amutenja The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation has pronounced itself on the recent remarks by the General Commissioner of the Namibia Correctional Services, who said that persons with visible tattoos may not be employed in the Service. Reacting to this, Labour Spokesperson Maria Hedimbi said that generally, in terms of labour and employment, such policies should be applied with due diligence, to avoid an element of discrimination in employment decisions. NCS Commissioner-General Raphael Hamunyela also said that officers with visible tattoos bear a risk to the prison community. “The Labour Act prohibits discrimination in any employment…

11 May

Appropriate mitigation needed to manage human-wildlife conflicts

info_e12wt4csNational NewsAppropriate mitigation needed to manage human-wildlife conflicts

Staff Writer The Vice President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba says that there is a need to develop appropriate mitigation and monitoring methods and capacitate all stakeholders to effectively manage human-wildlife conflicts.In order to achieve this, Mbumba said that there is a need to manage human-wildlife conflict in a way that recognizes the rights and development needs of local communities, recognizes the need to promote biodiversity conservation and self-reliance and ensures that decision-making is quick, efficient and based on the best available information.The Vice President said this during the official opening of the National Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management organized by…