Day: July 25, 2023

Justice Minister, Yvonne Dausab said Government has at least nine pieces of legislation that need to be reviewed and reformed to ensure that Namibia’s laws speak to the production of renewable energy and green hydrogen.

Dausab who was speaking here on Monday during the launch of the social economic development framework for the green hydrogen project said some of the legislation to be looked into are the Electricity Act, the Draft Gas Bill, Environmental Management Act, Petroleum Act, the water legislation in various formation, value added tax and customs and excise.

Dausab said Government has two options, one being that it looks at the nine pieces of legislation and insert some portions that specifically relate to renewable energy and green hydrogen provision.

“The second option which is what we’re proposing is that we could specifically look for a synthetic fuels act that will be fit for purpose, that will define the standard and norms and that will comply with domestic needs first and also relate and comply with our international obligation as well,” she said.

Director General of the National Planning Commission, Obeth Kandjoze said Government still has a lot to do in terms of providing education and health services to the inhabitants of Lüderitz when the green hydrogen, gas and oil projects kick off as a large influx of people is expected.

“Government has an obligation to provide roads, schools, a hospital to the people and in terms of the timeframe that we are talking about it may exceed our capacity and it’s not only about the services but also infrastructure development. Even the town of Lüderitz needs to be expanded and the port needs to be developed because no big vessels can dock at the current port, these are additional investments to be done, we have a lot to do and if we are not careful, we will be caught with our pants down,” he said.

Environment, Forestry and Tourism Minister, Pohamba Shifeta responding to questions by those at the meeting in regard to the environmental impact assessment of the green hydrogen project said: “We are busy training our scientists in green hydrogen, we are aware that this massive project has to be monitored throughout the development process. During the process you will see that scientist and the environmental commissioner will be involved as part of the technical team, to a point that the commissioner may have to tell us that we must pull back the project because of the significant environmental damage.”

He added: “The ministry has a framework that guides us that ensures that no significant damage is done to the environment, however, we cannot sit with resources and not use it because we are then violating the Constitution - we cannot just protect and promote the environment, we need to use them, we have to balance.”

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday denied bail to 34-year-old Antje Nauhaus, who appeared in connection with a helicopter crash that occurred at Swakopmund on 17 July.

Nauhaus appeared on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering, culpable homicide as well as contravening of the Namibian civil aviation regulations.

The suspect allegedly unlawfully and intentionally misrepresented a fake, forged and altered certificate of the registration and flight test permit of the same helicopter to Namibia Base Aviation.

Prosecutor Anita Likius opposed bail on the basis of the seriousness of the case and the charges against her, which would therefore not be in the interest of the public and the administration of justice.

The court also fears that the accused might interfere with investigations and/or abscond.

According to the police, Nauhaus was arrested at her residence in Swakopmund on Sunday, following investigations on a case which was opened against her by the owner of the Swakopmund Flying School, following the helicopter crash.

Items such as two iPhones, a smaller phone, memory sticks, six computers, 141 logbooks and three boxes with financial documents and invoices were seized from her residence, as well as the Namibia Base Aviation office, after a search warrant was obtained from the magistrate.

Two people, the 54-year-old Jacques Jacobs, who was the chief pilot and pilot instructor from the Swakopmund Flying School and 29-year-old Dirk von Weidts, died in the accident east of the Swakopmund airfield when they took it for a test.

The case was postponed to 02 October 2023 to allow further investigations.

The accused was represented by Willem Adriaan Greyling of Kinghorn Associates.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

The four-day Africa Public Service Day commemoration kicked off at Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region on Tuesday.

The commemoration is a platform to showcase and reward good initiatives and achievements in the public sector as well as to promote values in the areas of professionalism, accountability, ethics and performance in the delivering of public service.

In his welcoming remarks, Zambezi Region Governor Lawrence Sampofu called on the public servants and all service providers to work together to devise all means possible, such as to reward excellence, motivate public servants to promote innovation, enhance professionalism, trust and integrity in Government.

Sampofu noted that in so doing, the nation will move forward to unleash barriers towards the realisation of the free trade area as aspired.

This year’s commemoration is under the theme, ‘The African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) will require a fit for purpose African Administration to succeed’ and is based on the ambitious trade agreement to form the world’s largest free trade area by creating a single market for goods and services across Africa and deepening the economic integration of Africa.

The governor noted that based on that Namibia is among the participating members to facilitate the attainment of such ambition.

Also speaking at the opening event, Bank of Namibia Deputy Governor Ebson Uanguta called on all public servants to be good stewards of the country as they have been entrusted with the country’s resources and run it and deliver to the public with honest and integrity.

Uanguta added that for workers to deliver, Government should invest in its people so that a high skilled personnel is created.

He called on the staff to stay out of politics and leave politics to politicians, cautioning that public servants might compromise on service delivery and good ethics should they entertain politics.

Giving an overview of the day, Office of the Prime Minister Executive Director I-Ben Natangwe Nashandi reminded the gathering that the day focuses on transparency, equality, accessibility to the services provided by the public servants.

Nathaniel added that as public servants celebrate and appreciate their hard work in providing services to the masses, it was essential to also reflect on what they have done and achieved, and also on what they need to improve.

“We cannot be stuck with the old traditional ways of doing things, we need to move with technology,” Nashandi concluded.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency