Namib Independent Issue 198

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Issue 198 - Thursday 26 May 2016 to Wed, 01 June 2016

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We are as prepared as one can be – for six months we’ve been training so hard and seriously, so the last bit just comes down to ‘don’t get hurt and don’t get sick’

I am really honoured to have been elected Chairperson of the NCCI, and am going to give it my all to make a positive change where need be, and put my leadership skills to good use Paul Tangeni Ndjambula the new Chairperson of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) NCCI Swakopmund See Page 4

The words of passionate Swakop Striders runner, Kirsty Brits See Page 6

Lively 'Open mike' night shakes up Desert Tavern

See Page 5

Hodago Fishing's Vessel, the Venus 1, employs 85 crew members and operates in the Horse Mackerel in the Mid-Water Trawling Industry.

Hodago Fishing is New Swakopmund cemetery makes officially launched room for town's Absalom Shigwedha

A one hundred per cent Nambianowned fishing company was officially launched by Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, Berhard Esau, in Walvis Bay last Friday.

Hodago Fishing is a joint venture between Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises

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and Gendev Fishing, who are both 100 per cent Namibian-owned. Esau was full of praise for the new fishing company.

He said Hodago Fishing is barely half a year in operation but, since the joint venture bought one Vessel called Venus 1 last year, the company has kept the promise to maintain 85 crew members and their employment

conditions unchanged.

“This means that the Joint Venture embraced the objective of the Government with respect to workers in ensuring job security. Today, the combined Joint Venture of Hodago Fishing increased to 105 jobs on Venus 1. In our struggle to emancipate ourselves economically, Continued on Page 3

expansion

an entirely new cemetery to make room for the town's expansion, as It was only three months ago that the three existing ones are noticeably Andrew Van der Westhuizen nearing their capacity.

"As the town increases and you have (Manager Swakopmund Municipal Town planning) got Continued on Page 3 the wheels in motion to develop Donna Collins

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

'Hentiesbaaier' Talana recalls her Contact Us terrifying hijacking 44 years ago

Tel (+264 64) 200 497 Email info@namibindependent.com.na Sales Gareth Amos 081 129 2157 gareth@namibindependent.com.na Rita Potgieter 081 150 5455 rita@namibindependent.com.na Editorial Donna Collins 081 129 8707 donna@iway.na Design Maggie’s Attic Graphic Design sonya4maggiesattic@gmail.com 081 129 2158 Address

127 Theo Ben Gurirab Street (MVA Office Complex), PO Box 5085, Walvis Bay, Namibia

Disclaimer: Namib Independent is published by Halfround Communications CC. All rights are reserved. Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within, no liability can be accepted by the publishers or contributors for any errors, misstatements or omissions which may have occurred. The opinions expressed in the publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Also, the publishers accept no legal liability regarding copyright ownership for material which was supplied directly to the publishers by any of the advertisers or contributors.

A photo of Talana Joubert(then Nel) as it appeared in Die Burger in May 1972. Joubert was one of the crew members on the flight to Salisbury on 24 May 1972, when it was hijacked.

Maria Davel-Wallis In the wake of the recent bevy of plane hijackings and air tragedies world-wide, Namib Independent spoke to Henties Bay

resident and restauranteur, Talana Nel (now Joubert), who had been one of the crew members on board the SAA Boeing, the ‘Letaba’, when it was hijacked on 24 May 1972. It was the first time that an SAA

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Talana Joubert at her restaurant in Henties Bay Boeing was hijacked.

As the latest findings and speculation regarding the ill-fated Egyptian flight, EgyptAir flight 804, unfolds daily on news channels worldwide, Joubert says she remembers the hijacking as if it happened ‘yesterday’.

“We were on our way back from then Salisbury, and above the Hartbeespoort Dam, and we were having a bite in the cabin kitchen, when the Lebanese-born Faud Abu (Fred) Kamil, out of vengeance for mine magnate Harry Oppenheimer and his companies Anglo American and De Beers, said they wanted to speak to the pilot, Captain Blake Flemington and his co-pilot. They then hijacked the plane in mid-air. They had dynamite candles and other explosives on board and in the luggage hold.

We turned back and landed again in Salisbury (now Harare), where 49 of the 54 passengers on board were released.

The hijacking drama ended two days later in Blantyre in Malawi, when Kamil surrendered. They hijacked the plane because they suspected a close family member of Oppenheimer to be on the plane, and planned to demand a huge amount of money as ransom, seemingly out of vengeance for one or another injustice Kamil had allegedly suffered.”

The hijacking lasted 62 hours.

The aircraft was on descent to land in Johannnesburg when the two Lebanese hijackers forced it back to Salisbury, and after refueling, flew to the Seychelles and eventually landed in Blantyre, Malawi.

Joubert, who is the owner of the well-known restaurant, Fishy Corner, in Henties Bay, says she’ll never forget the immensely agonising hours in that cabin, knowing that any moment could be their last. She told the Namib Independent that most of the crew members are still in contact with each other on Facebook.

“A few years back, one of our crew, Joppie Nel, found Kamil through social media - he was living in Rio de Janeiro, and was in his eighties. He asked our forgiveness for what he had done, and for the pain and agony that he had caused us more than 40 years before. We’ve been communicating until his death. We’ll never really be able to forget. ”

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

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Walvis Bay enviro Hodago Fishing launched funds benefits many Absalom Shigwedha

Twenty projects have so far benefited from the Environmental Fund of the Walvis Bay Municipality.

This was stated by a senior official at the Walvis Bay Municipality, Nangula Amutenya, on Tuesday.

She was one of the people who made presentations at the just-ended Seminar on Water, Environment and Sustainable Development held at Oshakati.

Amutenya, who is the Environmental Coordinator of the Environmental Management Department at the Walvis Bay Municipality, said one of the components of the department is information and awareness creation while it also hosts environmental creative competition.

She said so far 20 projects have financially benefited from the fund, which was established in 2003.

“The fund is budgeted every financial year and only funds projects that fall within the territorial jurisdiction of the town of Walvis Bay,” she said.

Amutenya explained that projects

which benefited from the fund are such as Meme Itumbapo, Walvis Bay Bird Paradise, Tire Recycling and the Namibia Dolphin Project.

The annual environmental creative competition involves making valuable out of recycling by learners and the aim is to promote the concept of “recycle, reuse and reduce”.

The competition is open to all schools in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Arandis and Henties Bay. On information and awareness raising, said Amutenya, the fund finances activities such as the Coastal Biodiversity Weeks and Bird Counting at the Walvis Bay Lagoon.

In carrying out all these activities, the environmental fund of the Walvis Bay Municipality works with the Swakopmund Municipality, Namibian Coast and Conservation (Nacoma) project and Rio Tinto Rossing Uranium. For participating in the creative competition, each school is given N$2000, which should be used in environmental protection related activities, such as establishing a school environmental club.

New Swakop cemetery Continued from Page 1

Continued from Page 1

we need to give meaning to the Harambee Prosperity Plan and other Government objectives,” said Esau.

The new fishing company is catching Horse Mackerel in the Mid-Water Trawling Industry.

Esau applauded Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises and Gendev for adding value to the Horse Mackerel subsector, which was alleged as impossible and unachievable in the past.

“However, Kuiseb Fishing Enterprises and Gendev buy into the policy of our Ministry and went all out to value add Horse Mackerel into fish soup and retail packs.

I have seen the first transformation, entrepreneurship and innovation by some right holders to develop dry fish soup, smoking facilities, wet fish processing plants to produce quick frozen Horse Mackerel fillets and other derivatives. The dream is realistic, achievable and has great untapped potential,” said Esau.

Hodago is a Damara/Nama word meaning “we have found it.” Walvis Bay Mayor, Immanuel Wilfred, said the establishment

of Hodago Fishing is “a bonus to Walvis Bay, our country and the fishing industry.”

The initiative taken by the shareholders of Hodago Fishing, he said, must be applauded as a very noble one.

The chairperson of the Hodago Fishing Board of Directors, Festus Naholo, said the total investment

into Hodago Fishing is N$80 million, a very tangible contribution to the economy.

“The management of Hodago wish to sincerely express their appreciation to the shareholders and directors for dispensing such a big amount of money to invest in Walvis Bay and indeed in the national economy,”said Naholo.

To the good health of HODAGO ... Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister, Bernhard Esau (right), Hodago Fishing Board member, Volker Paulsmeier and Walvis Bay Mayor, Immanuel Wilfred, toasting to the good health of the new Hodago Fishing company, which was officially launched at Walvis Bay last Friday.

The Memorial Park Cemetery in Kramersdorf is one of three burial sites in Swakopmund which are reaching capacity, spurring on the need to build a new one with a crematorium in the planning. to accommodate the growth process, so forward planning of up to 30 years ahead is essential to the successful town planning of Swakopmund," said van der Westhuizen, adding that the matter has been discussed and presented to council.

The department is waiting for feedback within the next two to three weeks to see how they need to proceed.

He confirmed that planning of the new cemetery will be situated to the north along the Henties Bay road and that, in all probability, the proposed crematorium will be housed next to the new graveyard, to keep all the specific services conglomerated into one area.

The application by a Windhoek based developer to build a high tech crematorium is nearing completion, and council has in principal made a 4 000 square metre piece of land available for its construction.

"We are busy with the layout of the new cemetery which will be approved

by Council and ultimately the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development," continued Van der Westhuizen. He also pointed out that the new cemetery is not just going to be a piece of ground where you bury people but, as it is being serviced, it will be an attractive area, and depending on what council wants there could be a chapel, office, walkways, parking space and landscaping.

"The possibility of a state-of-the crematorium facility will be an asset to the town, as it will ease the demand for cremation services from Windhoek and other outside towns," he said.

The three major grave yards in Swakopmund are situated in Tamaraskia, Mondesa and the Memorial Park Cemetery in Kramersdorf, which is the oldest in town.

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

New NCCI Chairperson hits the ground running

The new NCCI Swakopmund Committee Donna Collins Go-getting new Chairperson of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) NCCI Swakopmund has hit the ground running since being appointed at the recent AGM, and has already conducted his first marketing workshop and Exco meeting last week.

The young and dynamic Paul Tangeni Ndjambula (29) has given the thumbs up to the newly elected committee which he describing as "an energetic group, with diverse skills." They are: Vice-Chairman - Andre Plaatjie, Treasurer - Ruth Davis plus members Penny du Toit, Christine Visser, Alpheus Gaweseb and Marilyn Eibes.

With everyone allotted a duty for a successful year ahead, he said that the focus will be on boosting NCCI membership, community involvement, governance and marketing.

"I have a daunting task to match up to the previous committee and the former chairperson Heinrich Hafeni who set the bar really high, “said Ndjambula, referring to the former chairperson, who he said has left "big

shoes to fill."

"I am really honoured to have been elected Chairperson of the NCCI, and am going to give it my all to make a positive change where need be, and put my leadership skills to good use." he added. “Hafeni’s exemplary and progressive leadership made a difference in the last two years at the local branch, and I encourage those elected with me to work hard and take the chamber to greater heights.”

Clearly Ndjambula, who is a born and bred Swakomunder, is someone climbing the corporate ladder to success, by combining his commitment to leadership skills, a business brain and work ethics something he says our Namibian youth are sadly lacking. He noted that there is a vacuum of youth leaders in our country, who have an attitude of self entitlement.

"But on the other side of the coin, the machinery in this country is not making room for young entrepreneurs either, because we are not grooming our youth to step into positions of corporate nature,” he added.

He also maintained that there is little push towards growing the SME's potential, and by not allowing them to

make a bigger contribution to the economy, they cannot play a better role in the business sector. He said that this trend is making people lazy, apathetic and not willing to take the bull by the horns, which affects the economic drive of the country.

Chatting to Ndjambula about his working career and what inspired him to become a member of the NCCI last year, it is not surprising to learn that he is a young man who wears many hats.

Currently he holds the position of Ecosystem Officer for the Benguela Current Commission, which requires admin planning and technical support co-ordination for ocean governance.

On the complete opposite side of the scale, he is also a self made entrepreneur and co-owns a company 'Swakop Cycle Tours, which he started in 2012. This innovative company offers visitors and tourists an eco-friendly and exciting township tour around the

streets of Mondesa by bicycle.

Ndjambula has also founded the 'Swakop Youth with a Vision' forum to inspire young people in our community to reach higher goals and have more active youth leadership in our communities, whilst he has motivated companies to sponsor this endeavour.

He has also notched up travels to many parts of the African continent, travelling to South Africa regularly as part of the 'New Generation of African Leaders in Southern Africa Fellowship' programme, which is a US funded project instilling leadership, accountable governance and democracy to its groups.

In conclusion, Ndjambula says that for the business sector in our communities to improve and flourish, it is necessary to come together and speak in one voice, and is inviting more SMEs and companies to join the NCCI in Swakopmund.

Young and go-getting Paul Tangeni Ndjambula, the new Chairperson of the Namibian Chamber of Commerce (NCCI) Swakopmund. (Photo Donna Collins

Walvis Mayor tackles land issues Absalom Shigwedha

“When the new Government came into office, the Walvis Bay local authority had already been busy with its own land development programme.

Government then came on board with the Municipality, and refunded the Municipality for work that had been done to service land,” said Wilfred.

He said President Hage Geingob expressed his satisfaction with the process, when he visited the harbour town, as well as viewed

Immanuel Wilfred, Mayor of Walvis Bay explained a number of issues regarding land allocation, saying that it has been dominating both local and national Government.

He said that council has undertaken to financially support local authorities to provide more serviced land and to address the housing shortages, especially affordable housing.

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the land servicing programme. This process was endorsed by a follow up visit by Honourable Sophia Shaningwa (Minister Urban and Rural Development) who will officially hand over the properties on behalf of the Government.

What is also important to know is that Government will continue to finance the next round of servicing land, is starting in July when the new financial year starts.

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

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5

Lively 'Open mike' night shakes up Desert Tavern Donna Collins

The popular Desert Tavern night spot, which is one of Swakopmund's biggest draw cards for musicians, put an exciting spin on 'Open Mike Night' last Friday, when anyone with a voice and an instrument graced the stage with their talents.

The medley of performers who were willing to try their hand at a solo or two, a rusty guitar piece brought out of 'mothballs', some gospel singing, blues, rock, reggae and indie, demonstrated the level of both hidden and well known talent that grows in our back yards.

The two headlining bands that brought the vibe to the 'party' were Wakambi, who have just completed a three month tour in South Africa, and have brought a distinctive reggae rapping blend of sounds to their repertoire.

Another well-known artist, Ras Levi, was in full swing and was backed by his five piece band 'Visions", performing original cover sounds and his original music which he describes as "Reggae Dance Hall'.

Whilst the two bands are separate acts, Friday's blend of fun on stage saw the guys all grabbing guitars, a bass, a mike and mixed their energy into one big jam session. At one stage they were joined by SAVANNAH who brought out an electric guitar and the blues, as well as seasoned 'crooner' who was visiting from SA. In addition to this, the evening included some vocal harmonies and band members from 'Black Diamond', and the night was full of jamming and socialising, as people packed the place for a night out on the town.

Wakambi in action, with Ras Levi and his Visions band members, who were joined by a medley of musicians for a jam and Open Mike Night at the Desert Tavern

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

#Comradesherewecome! – Coastal Runners “as ready as can be” Maria Davel-Wallis

They do not call it ‘The Ultimate Human Race’ for nothing. The Comrades Marathon is the world’s biggest and oldest ultra-marathon.

This year’s 91st Comrades will host the 45th down run in the history of the event, and around 20 000 athletes will gather at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall for the start of the race early Sunday morning. The finishing line will be at the Kingsmead Cricket stadium in Durban.

This year’s Comrade’s theme is ‘Izokuthoba – It Will Humble You’.

“We are as prepared as one can be – for six months we’ve been training so hard and seriously, so the last bit just comes down to ‘don’t get hurt and don’t get sick’. At this stage I’ll be happy with anything. We all have personal goals, you know, that what you’re hoping for, but with Comrades, because it’s such a difficult race and can be so unpredictable on any given day, to finish is already enough – they say, to just get to the Start line of Comrades means you’ve already

won the battle” – the words of passionate Swakop Striders runner, Kirsty Brits, who spoke to the Namib Independent on Tuesday, 24 May – the exact day in 1921, on which the Comrades was run for the first time.

Kirsty Brits is one of the handful of coastal runners who’ll endeavour to successfully complete the Comrades down run from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. It will be her second down run, and her third consecutive Comrades.

Thirty-two Namibian runners’ names are on the starting list. Ten of them are coastal runners.

“Last night we did our last little run after tapering of our distances the past three weeks. The leader of our pack, Johan Bronkhorst, and I have trained together almost every single day for 16 months... no-one can really understand the type of friendship this builds up. I am so grateful to him for his guidance, support, encouragement, brutal honesty and when I need it - a serious kick in the butt!

Brits says it will be Bronkhorst’s 5th Comrades – he is a seasoned runner,

with some 25 Rössing Marathons under his belt. Then there is Danie Kotze, the third Swakop Strider, who’s done his first marathon, the Husab, last year, and will now tackle the Comrades. The youngest member in their training group is Fagan Pocsi, who’ll be doing his first Comrades, and the oldest member, Pastor Johnie van Niekerk (68), who’ll also try to reach the finishing line this year.

Pieter Greeff will be doing his backto-back Comrades – that will be an achievement in its own right – and he’ll receive a special, third medal on achieving this. Etienne Louw will be running his third Comrades, and Werner Bachman is ‘going for Green’ – another major Comrades achievement, says Brits.

“Werner Bachman is doing his 10th Comrades, which means after this he’ll be awarded a Green participation number, that will be his for the rest of his life – nobody else will ever run under the same number, unless he gives it to a family member when he retires from running the Comrades.

This is a great moment in the life of any Comrades athlete!”

According to the figures, Bachman will be one of more than 500 athletes who’ll be going for their Green Numbers and the honour of retaining their race numbers after successful completion of their 10th Comrades.

Brits says it’s not only about the achievement – it is about the atmosphere, the adrenalin and the people you meet, the impromptu

After the last training run over a short distance - fltr Johan Bronkhorst, Kirsty Brits and Danie Kotze (Photo contributed by Kirsty Brits) conversation between two people who might never ever see each other again or talk to each other again, but who at a specific moment during the race, become an integral part of each other’s personal quest – a quest that can make you feel very, very lonely and desolate, although you are running among thousands.

Runners must complete the race in 12 hours. The record for the fastest down run is held by Leonid Shvetsov – 5 hours 20 minutes and 41 seconds. In the women’s race, South African runner Frith van der Merwe set the record in 1989 when she completed the down run in 5 hours and 54 minutes.

There’s a special prize, the Spirit of Comrades Award, “whereby a maximum of three individuals are rewarded for embodying the true 'Spirit of the Comrades Marathon' and being an inspiration to humanity.” Last year it was awarded to Kabelo Ntsime, Richard Monisi and Heidi Joubert.

Kirsty Brits says it is nice to be an international runner – there’s a special tent and a lot of special perks, and after a gruelling quest like the Comrades, that means a lot.

The Namib Independent will have more on the 2016 Comrades and its outcome for our own in our next edition.

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Closed for the whole day • • •

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Normal business hours will resume on Monday, 30 May 2016. We sincerely apologise for any inconveniences this may cause.

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

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7

Walvis photographer Erna leaves for Spanish magazine Donna Collins

From Walvis Bay to the exotic isle of Majorca off the coast of Spain, is a dream come true for the young self made professional photographer Erna Van der Merwe, who has been offered a job in Spain after her work was discovered on instagram last month.

Now equipped with her Nikon camera, she will be leaving for Majorca at the end of June, to take up a position of Lifestyle website photographer for Daniel Weinstock. She will be shooting for a

Walvis Bay kickboxers attend Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic

The following students from NAMIBIAN MMA & KICKBOXING ACADEMY of Walvis Bay will attend the Arnold Swarzenegger Classic that will be held in Pretoria this coming weekend (27 – 29 May 2016).

They will represent NAMIBIA: Philip Müller Julian Müller Delano Müller Lesley Hoaeb Vicky Stiemert It will be the first time Vicky Stiemert will represent Namibia in Kickboxing and we expect that she will excel as she’s in top form. You can find the info regarding the competition on the website: http://www. arnoldclassicafrica.com/index.php/8-2016/8-arnoldclassic-sa-2016-introduction Friday evening at the title fights the following fighters will also compete against SA in their weight divisions: 35kg: Thabiso Mkwabane (SA) vs Delano Müller (Nam) 63kg: Nadine jv Rensburg (SA) vs Vicky Stiemert (Nam) 83kg: Johan Scholz (SA) vs Julian Müller (Nam) 73kg: Samuel Sathikge (SA) vs Lesley Hoaeb (Nam) Good luck to all our local competitors.

Health & Fitness website magazine, doing modeling shoots and using the skills she has developed over the years. As she put it "there is nothing keeping me here now, so I am taking this opportunity with both hands and going to make the most of it."

Erna who also goes by the name Anna, says she is a 'daddy's girl', but feels this is the right time to spread her wings. She will arrive there a complete stranger with just her camera equipment, a few belongings and the excitement of a new world opening up to her.

"I am literally diving into the deep end, because I know no one, cannot speak Spanish, and am going to be challenged in the beginning to find my bearings in such a strange land, but that is part of the journey," she said with a huge smile.

Erna's passion for photography first started when she was 12 years old, and since 2011 has pursued her photographic career professionally.

Her portfolio comprises of subtle semi-nudes, artistic black and white images, as well as a variety of stunning models she enjoys dressing up and shooting on interesting locations.

She has taken her passion a step further, by graduating with a B plus average in the Cape Town School of photography where she studied her craft. This was followed by an exhibition at Mojos last year.

Erna matriculated at Walvis Bay High school, and has since been working at her father's diving business and freelancing as a photographer in between doing online courses and working the web, instagram and social media where her work has found a platform.

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

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Thursday, 26 May 2016

9

Rand downgrade spells disaster for Namibia priced/benchmarked on their counterparts in South Africa and, when a downgrade occurs, those prices will be shocked and their reaction will be transmitted to Namibia’s products almost immediately.

Household and corporate indebtedness South Africa is an important market for Namibia where commercial and corporates significantly go to for short and long-term funding needs. The market has served Namibia so well for a long time and supported the domestic Economic reporter The recently confirmed stable and sound financial system by the Bank of Namibia and NAMFISA will soon come under heavy pressure in the event of a South African rand downgrade.

When a rand downgrade occurs it will have a negative impact on the region at large because South Africa is an economic powerhouse. For Namibia, a downgrade will hit its financial system – which is closely linked to that of South Africa via the contagion effect.

Junk status – a vicious cycle If South Africa gets downgraded to junk status‚ which would be the next notch down‚ some global investment companies like pension funds and asset managers would be precluded from holding their debt because they have rules about how much risk they can take.

The junk status effectively means a country becomes a risk for defaulting on its debt, because it might not have enough money to pay back what it has borrowed and the interest it has promised to pay the holders of its debt. It is a vicious cycle.If it gets downgraded‚ investors will begin to avoid investing there‚ the prices of its assets will drop because of the lack of demand for its debt and the

financial market. According to the Financial Stability Report, the ratio of household indebtedness to disposable income at the end of December 2015 increased compared to the same period in 2014.

Namibia’s household debt ratio was at 89.1 percent of disposable income during 2015 from 85.5 percent in 2014.

The impact of a rand downgrade in South Africa will also manifest in the form of capital outflows and potential spill overs to rand- Economic analysis piece by Standard Bank’s denominated South African Manager of Economic and Market Research Mally Likukela government debts.

shares listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)‚ the rand will weaken further‚ inflation will shoot up and the average South African will have to endure higher costs for goods and higher interest rates.

Financial stability A stable and sound financial system is critical to economic growth and prosperity and any threat or risk to it should be prevented at all cost.

Prosperity being at the centre of Namibia’s economic agenda (The Harambee Prosperity Plan – HPP), a clean bill of health for a financial system is indeed a welcome development and Namibia can’t afford any disturbances to its stability. According to the Financial Stability Report for 2015, Namibia’s financial system remained stable characterised by a sound, profitable and adequately capitalised banking sector with a relatively low level of NonPerforming Loans (NPLs).

For the man on the street, a sound financial system signals that his money is handled in a way which will not unduly jeopardise it. A sound and clean bill of health will therefore provide comfort especially for the saving individuals and corporates via contractual savings schemes.

Namibia’s financial prices are

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10

News

Thursday, 26 May 2016

Drought 2016: the silent killer relentlessly marches on Agriculture Correspondent The drought of 2016 is marching on like a silent killer, claiming animal lives and stealing the livelihood of thousands of Namibians in almost all fourteen regions.

The latest satellite images from the Namibian Rangeland Monitor System reveals a rather frightening picture and clearly show the extent of the drought and the depletion of the country’s rangelands.

It is estimated that some 500 000

Namibians are now dependent on government’s drought food aid. A refreshed drought food programme is expected to be approved by Cabinet this week.

Lack of sufficient grazing has already led to many deaths in hard hit regions like Omusati and Okaheke, and if the drought continues into the new rainy season, humans and animals are going to suffer greatly as the current drought is already documented as the worst in more than 30 years.

Governor of Omusati region,

Erkki Endjala, says the drought situation in his region is getting worse by the day.

Like in other regions, drought, desertification and land degradation have been accelerated by a long period of insufficient rainfall that started in 2012.

Drought is very severe in Omusati region and the majority of the people are affected. Many wells have run dry and the Omusati Regional Council are now compelled to provide water to affected communities.

Not a pretty picture…the latest images from the Namibian Rangeland Monitor Project tell the story of a severe drought across the country and show how rangeland status has deteriorated. Photo: Contributed Amutenya Ndahafa, the regional councillor of the Uuvudhiya constituency in Oshana region, said that water was pumped into Lake Oponona in November last year from Etaka by the Ministry of Water, Agriculture and Forestry at his request.

In Kunene region, farmers have described this year's drought as critical because many areas in the region received way below average rainfall in both the 2014 and 2015 rainy seasons. Some areas have only recorded about 40 mm this season.

Even though farmers want to sell some of their livestock to mitigate the impact, prices are very low and buyers have become more selective. Kunene governor Angelika Muharukua said many farmers in the region have lost their livestock due to drought.

A recent study conducted by agricultural technicians in the Kunene region also found that poor rainfall during for the past three rainy seasons continues to negatively impact on pastures in the region, resulting in diminishing perennial water in most villages.

Drought is also terrorising the Ohangwena region, where over 1 000 households from 60 villages in Eengodi constituency have reportedly been in dire need of water - a situation that is described by the Ohangwena Regional Council as potentially life threatening.

During the 11th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, held in Namibia in September 2013, the former executive secretary, Luc Gnacadja, called on international organisations and businesses to provide support to Namibia in addressing the severe drought the country is facing.

In 2013 and this year, farmers in Kunene region lost their livestock due to drought and some children's deaths were also linked to a lack of food. Climate change has increased the frequency of droughts, particularly in the arid regions of Africa and Southern Africa, and Namibia in particular.

Namibia's environmental commissioner Teofilus Nghitila said, due to drought, desertification and land degradation experienced in Namibia in 2013, the country spent almost N$80 million on drought-relief programmes which was upped to more than N$90 million the following financial year.

In April this year, the Office of the Prime Minister announced that close to 418 000 Namibians who are affected by drought, would start receiving government assistance from May. The permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Nangula Mbako, said Cabinet had authorised the implementation of an interim drought relief programme,which includes the distribution of maize meal to close to 418 000 people from May to July 2015.

Government has set aside N$300 million for drought mitigation purposes and cover measures such as procurement of food for affected communities and households’ provision of water for human and animal consumption, in the form of drilling new boreholes and rehabilitating old ones and assistance to crop producers and livestock farmers.

The Crop Prospects, Food Security and Drought Situation Report, released by the Namibian government on 31 July 2015, says Namibia will have to import almost 210 000 tonnes of cereal to ensure food security as a consequence of the 2013 and 2015 droughts.

Worldwide

Thursday, 26 May 2016

11

Worldwide

World's deepest, longest railway tunnel set to open On June 1, after 17 years of construction, Switzerland will begin testing trains in the world's longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel that runs through the Swiss Alps.

At an incredible 57,1km in length, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is now the longest railway tunnel in the world, knocking Japan's Seikan tunnel, at 53,9km into second place.

The Channel Tunnel, affectionately known as the "Chunnel," connecting England and mainland Europe is 50,5km long.

"It is an incredible project, a huge achievement," says geotechnical engineer Claire Smith, now the editor of Britain's Ground Engineering magazine, according to NBC News.

The Gotthard Tunnel was built at a cost of N$189 billion, its cost the equivalent of the 2012 London

Man-made meteor shower proposed for 2020 Olympics A Japanese start-up plans to create a man-made meteor shower for the 2020 Olympics opening ceremony.

At N$28,310 per meteor, the meteor shower could cost millions of dollars depending on the number of shooting stars and length of the shower.

Tokyo based start-up Star-ALE is designing a man-made meteor shower over the Japanese capital city, which will serve as the highlight of the 2020 Olympics opening ceremony. The meteor shower is expected to have an audience of 30,000,000 people and

would be viewable from the ground in an area 193km across.

As a first step of the project named "Sky Canvas," the company would launch a micro-satellite into space, the first is scheduled for the year 2017, that is loaded up with 500 to 1,000 proprietary pellets containing various elements. The combustible pellets are made from various metals and elements so that they burn with different colours when ignited at an altitude of between 56km to 80km above Earth.

Lena Okajima, CEO and founder

of ALE says, “I am thinking of streams of meteors that are rare in nature, it is artificial but I want to make really beautiful ones that can impress viewers.

Tinkering with the ingredients should mean that it is possible to change the colour of each bright streak, offering the possibility of a multi-coloured flotilla of shooting stars. Making the sky a screen is this project's biggest attraction as entertainment.”

Tokyo, which hosted the Olympic Games last in 1964 plans to make the 2020 Olympics, the most high-tech one to date.

Its plans include a robotic games village, real-time translator apps, high-speed 5G wireless connections, hydrogen-powered autonomous taxis, super-speed mag-lev trains and algae-fuelled air crafts.

Source: www.digitaljournal.com

Olympic Games, reports Swiss Info, as well as the lives of eight of the 2,600 workers. The drilling machine used to cut through the solid rock at depths of 2,3km was the length of four football fields or 410m long.

Smith pointed out the necessity of ventilating the tunnel to regulate temperatures so deep underground because it can get up to 37.8 degrees Celsius inside at depths of 2,3km.

"This is not like a subway line running a few meters below the surface; we are talking depths that are measured in kilometres. Working down there is like going down a mine, it gets warmer as you go further in."

Everything about the tunnel is huge. It took 4.0 million cubic meters of concrete to complete the work, or you could say the amount of concrete in 84 Empire State buildings, and the copper cable used? At 3,200km, it

is enough to stretch from New York City to San Antonio, Texas.

The twin tunnels, running in both directions, will carry passengers at speeds of 250 km/h, reducing travel times between Zurich and Milan to a comfortable 2.5 hours instead of almost five hours. The biggest plus with the opening of the tunnel will be the shift from trucks carrying freight to trains, doubling the hauling capacity in the area's north-south corridor to about 44 million tons.

According to reports, passenger service on the Gotthard Tunnel line will begin on December 8 this year.

Even after the official opening, there is enough work to be done on the rest of the rail line to further cut travel times.

Source: www.digitaljournal.com

Camel bites owner's head off A camel, who was tied outside its owner's house in the heat all day, killed him when the man finally remembered to untie the animal. The incident was reported in Barmer in Rajasthan on Saturday. It reportedly took 25 villagers six hours to calm the animal down.

Temperatures in Rajasthan broke past records last Friday.

The highest temperature in

Barmer on Saturday, when the camel remained outside in the heat with its legs tied, was about 43 degrees celsius.

According to a report in The Times of India, the owner, Urjaram, had forgotten to untie his camel during the day and suddenly remembered while he was entertaining guests at home.

When he went out to untie the camel, it attacked him, picking him up by the neck and throwing him in the ground.

A villager told TOI that the camel chewed the owner's body and severed his head in the process.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.in

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