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SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958 NO6395 FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER 2014 Tel +264 64 205 854/+264 64 461 866/Fax +264 64 204 813/+264 64 461 824/Website www.namibtimes.net
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Education first, babies later
Mass housing progress, but problems persist Jade McClune
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Celebrating Elders
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MP's defy the law
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Container operations record
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Namibian athletes excell
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Following months of speculation and criticism, Power Oyeno, the main contractor on the mass housing programme in Swakopmund, hit back at critics of the scheme this week, when they invited the media to assess the progress in construction. Mr Paolo Shipoke said, following the launch of the construction programme on 5 June, they already have 309 houses at various stages of completion and that there are currently around 800 workers and 20 sub-contractors on site. They also made a point of employing local people: unemployed people from the DRC settlement were assisted to set up a company, called Seahawk, through which around 200 to 300 locals (60% women) were employed to do the digging and excavation works. Two of the sub-contracting companies on site are actually owned and run by women, Shipoke added. Given the pace of production they found it difficult at times to secure a steady supply of 40 000 bricks per day, but they are on schedule and their invest-
ment in the local economy has provided a significant boost to related industries and businesses at the town, Shipoke said. Oyeno’s project manager, Mr Isaac Muchenga says 120 houses to the north of the DRC settlement are nearing completion and only require some tiling and paintwork before they can be handed over. They are building eight different types of houses to meet the needs of people with various levels of income. A number of workers reported that they do not earn the minimum wage, as specified in the Construction Federation Industry’s agreement with the Metal and Allied Workers Union, and that sometimes their wages are paid in late. In response Mr Shipoke said they investigated the matter and requested all sub-contrac-
tors to submit their payroll so that Onyeno could determine the actual situation. Shipoke said they added a specific clause into the contracts to stipulate that sub-contractors must pay the approved rate, or risk losing the contract. He admitted though that they found out subsequently that the problem arose in cases where some sub-contractors further divided up their work portions and contracted these out to builders, who have no contractual agreement with Oyeno. Recent work stoppages that delayed the work for one or two days were due mainly to late payments from the side of the NHE, he said. Delays were also caused by the payment systems, which involve transfers to a number of different banks.
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Deputy Minister killed in car crash Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy, Willem Isaacks has died. Isaacks, 45, succumbed at the Keetmanshoop State Hospital due to injuries he sustained after a motor vehicle accident
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