N$3
SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958
NO6358
TUESDAY 3 JUNE 2014
Tel +264 64 205 854/+264 64 461 866/Fax +264 64 204 813/+264 64 461 824/Website www.namibtimes.net
inside
Pageant a flop
New Port rates questioned
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SPCA cupcakes
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Crossfit comes to town
Dorcas Mhungu The 12% increase in port rates announced by the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) this year, has been described by some shipping companies as exorbitant and unjustified. Bemoaning the absence of a Ports Regulator Page 11 in Namibia, port users said the South African Government had proposed a 14% hike in port rates for 2014, but the Port Regulator rejected it and eventually an 8%
Benni McCarthy
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Els wins silver
hike was implemented in South Africa. “When we asked Namport to justify the 12% increase, we were told that over the years Namport has embarked on infrastructural development to improve operations
efficiency and hence the 12% hike imposed in 2014,” said one shipping company executive who preferred to remain anonymous. Questions are being raised why the increase is more than the 6%
inflation rate. The general feeling among the shipping industry players is that Namport is playing the ball alone and Namport is not taking into consideration the needs of its stakeholders
who further described negotiations as a myth. The industry this year has to contend with the 6% inflationary rate and the 12% hike in port rates. “In Economics, the rule of economies of scale should apply for the
expansion programs at Namport. If this is so why must industry pay a 12% increase and not the 6% inflationary rate? We do not see any mathematical calculation to support the 12% increase.
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Tourists targeted at the lagoon Madelaine Laubscher and Dorcas Mhungu
Tourists are being targeted by criminals at the Walvis Bay lagoon and every day someone is a victim. The prying thieves break into vehicles while the visitors admire the majestic flamingos and seabirds.
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On Friday, a concerned Walvis Bay resident and self-employed tourism information officer, Pinhas Frans expressed concern about the frequency of the robberies. He told the newspaper
how the incidents constantly take him away from his office at the lagoon to attend to the tourists who come to him for help when their vehicles are broken into. “I work at the lagoon.
I show tourists where to go when they need directions. A lot of tourists have been robbed at the lagoon and they put pressure on me when they need assistance
because I cannot leave my office and attend to them every time. I am self-employed and although I offer assistance I cannot do that with everyone as it is not my job to take
responsibility for the victims. I am not a police officer. The tourists are being targeted. They come to me because they are not familiar with the town and do not know where the police
station is situated but I cannot accompany them to the police station every time,” he explained. Mr Frans escorted the newspaper to spots where vehicles have been broken into and there
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