15 may namib times e edition

Page 1

1958

N$3

SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958

NO 6453

FRIDAY

15 MAY 2015

Tel +264 64 205 854/+264 64 461 866/Fax +264 64 204 813/+264 64 461 824/Website www.namibtimes.net

inside

Jump-start for Cosdec entrepeneurs

Page 3

Dolphin Project: Latest on NamPort's role

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Back to School

Geingob drops housing bombshell on Minister

Minister must answer by end of June

A man is being held at the police station in Walvis Bay for psychological evaluation after he walked completely naked in public on Wednesday morning in an alleged protest against the loss of his residence, after his shack was demolished.

Marshallino Beukes In an official letter, dated 24 April, President Hage Geingob demands from the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Sophia Shaningwa, as well as Local Authorities to start playing a more constructive role in the provision of serviced land. He also emphasised on the need to fast-track the delivery of affordable and quality houses for all Namibians. The Minister is requested by the President to view this as a matter of “utmost urgency” and to review the current approach of house delivery with a view to make it more af-

fordable and expeditious. Some of the key points Geingob asked to be considered in the Ministry’s approach, include how to ensure that the costs of serviced land are signifi-

cantly reduced i.e. cutting out the middlemen and directing municipalities to directly service the land. The President also asked for re-assessment of the

Homeless Man’s Protest may lead to Public Indecency Charge Madelaine Laubscher

criteria for land and property valuations to make it more precise, and investigating of the entire supply chain of building materials and costs. He furthermore probed the Continues on page 2

The ‘forever’ container terminal - A Quarter of the work done, says NamPort Leandrea Louw NamPort held a public information sharing session as required by the approved Environmental HIV/AIDS campaign: Management Plan for the new container terminal-on-reclaimed-land project, on Tuesday evening in Walvis Bay. Members of the public were introduced to PS HSE Consultants, the appointed environmental team under the Environmental Management Plan, and an independent contractor. A brief update was also given on the project by NamPort Project Manager, Mr Elzevir Gelderbloem. Page 8

The Nampol Deputy Commissioner, Otillie Kashuupulwa, told the namib times that a case of public indecency will be opened against the man. “A lot of people’s shacks that are erected on land that do not belong to them, are removed regularly, but they do not go walking naked in the street afterwards. Therefore we have no choice but to keep the man at the police station until we have sent him for psychological evaluation.

We must also open a case against him for public indecency. According to the homeless man, he walked naked to protest against losing his residence,” she said. A member of the community was astounded when he saw the man walking completely naked in Theo Ben Gurirab Street. He provided this newspaper with photos that he took of the man as he was walking down the street. According to the source Continues on page 2

Disclose!

PS HSE Consultants are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Management Plan and subPage 10

Happiness for Benita

plans, monitoring site activities to ensure adherence to NamPort and legal HSE requirements, maintenan-

ce and management to the environmental monitoring programme, checking the contractor’s public

complaints register and provide feedback, conduct HSE audits and inspections and ensure the Continues on page 2

Ombudsman’s battle for independence continues

Marshallino Beukes A shocking revelation has come to light in the most recent Annual Report from the Office of the Ombudsman (2013), revealing the continuing “battle” to have the Ombudsman’s independence supported and acknowledged.

Page 12 This is mainly attributed to the fact that the Office Bronze for of the Ombudsman is a Namibia's situated within Triathlon Team directorate the Ministry of Justice and is treated by the Ministry as such. “The Ombudsman cannot travel or designate his staff to travel within or outside of Namibia without the explicit approval of the Permanent Secretary. Page 32

The new office in Ongwediva still does not have furniture, because the Ombudsman is not provided with his own budget for furniture, but has to request furniture through the Ministry’s administrative main division, where funds for furniture are centralised. This means that the Ombudsman has to compete

with other directorates for resources and is subjected to delays caused by the staff of the Ministry,” the report reads. Furthermore Ombudsman, John Walters, says he is saddened because there has not been any improvement whatsoever, regarding responses from offending institutions in a timely fashion. “On the

contrary, the situation seems to have worsened and I had to subpoena more persons than ever before to force institutions to answer enquiries from the Ombudsman,” Walters added. He expressed the hope that Permanent Secretaries will accept responsibility for this and perhaps designate focal persons to Continues on page 2

Protest of the Homesless

A homeless man protesting against losing his dwelling in Walvis Bay


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15 may namib times e edition by Namib Times Virtual - Issuu