Day: June 15, 2023

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Minor dies in accident at Otjiwarongo dumpsite

Seven-year-old Otta Ameb died instantly in a car incident at the Otjiwarongo dumping site on Wednesday.

A crime report issued by the Namibian Police Force on Wednesday said Ameb, who was a learner at Orwetoveni Primary School in Otjiwarongo, died when he and a group of other minors tried to jump onto the back of a moving vehicle.

It is alleged that Ameb and another group of boys jumped onto a Namib Mills truck which was busy reversing to offload waste at the dumping site.

It is suspected that the boy fell off the vehicle and died instantly.

The driver of the vehicle was a licensed 39-year-old Namibian male.

The deceased’s next of kin have been informed and police investigations continue.

In a separate occurrence, Tenete Uohiva, a 68-year-old pensioner, drowned in the Epalela water canal at Ontoko village in the Omusati Region on Wednesday.

According to the Namibian Police, the deceased fell into the canal and drowned while crossing the canal bridge from Epalela location to Omakuva village.

The body was positively identified by family members and police investigation continues.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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MEFT offers 40 crocodiles for public sale

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) is offering 40 crocodiles for public sale in its efforts to mitigate the impact of crocodile conflict on communities.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, MEFT announced the public sale of 40 crocodiles in their efforts to minimise human-wildlife conflicts that have been occurring in the north eastern regions of Kavango East and West and the Zambezi Region, where crocodile conflict has been a concern over the past few years.

“The regions of Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi continue to experience crocodile attacks on people and their livestock,” said MEFT Chief Public Relations Officer, Romeo Muyunda.

He explained that the ministry has paid offset amounts of over N.dollars 2.3 million for losses caused by crocodiles since 2019.

He said that the crocodiles will be sold through a tender where written financial offers by those interested should be submitted to MEFT in sealed envelopes, including the price per individual animal.

Muyunda concluded that the sale of the 40 crocodiles are in line with the recommendations made at the recently ended conference on human-wildlife conflict management.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

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Swakopmund prioritising residents’ water and sanitation

The Swakopmund Municipality has ramped up its budget for water and sanitation infrastructure over the past years in order to carry out the type of critical infrastructure work that is unique to the town.

At a recent council budget tabling meeting, chairperson of the Swakopmund Council management committee Wilfried Groenewald said the capital budget for water and sanitation for the 2023/24 financial year is N.dollars 40 million, which they intend to keep on increasing for the future.

This is part of the council’s N.dollars 685 million overall budget, which includes an operating budget of over N.dollars 527 million and a capital expenditure budget of N.dollars 158 million.

“Council has budgeted N.dollars 5 million for a new sewerage rising main, N.dollars 2 million for a sewer pump station and N.dollars 8.7 million for extra cleaning of drains and flooding prevention. However, we must be honest about where we stand as too many of our pump stations are run until they fail, some of our wastewater works can’t handle the load and spills are still far too prevalent,” he noted.

Groenewald added that of all the ways to spend a town’s revenue, investment in water and sanitation infrastructure is arguably the most crucial, therefore the only way to carry on the encouraging improvements seen now is to increase investment even further and for that investment to happen, it must be funded.

An estimated N.dollars 79 million will be budgeted in the next financial year (2024/25) for infrastructure projects, the bulk of which will go towards upgrading and expanding water and sanitation infrastructure across the town.

“We are investing to get ahead and stay ahead as we gear up for the Swakopmund of the future. We will not allow the decay and neglect that has gripped so many other towns and cities in Namibia to take hold in Swakopmund,” the chairperson expressed.

The municipality has also boosted the road maintenance budget with an extra N.dollars 34.6 million for the current financial year.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency