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SERVING THE COASTAL COMMUNITY SINCE 1958 NO6386 TUESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 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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"Buurtwag" rand aan
Keep your lens close for tonight’s supermoon (moon perigee), an incidence where the full moon or new moon is closest to earth on its elliptical orbit.
Twelve additional days for voter’s registration
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Snoek seisoen begin
A number of days have been set aside for the Supplementary Registration of Voters, which started on Monday and will last until 20 September 2014. Continues on page 2
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Jakkie Louw
Springmoon
Ebola strategy for Erongo
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Staff Reporter
On Friday the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) and Ministry of Health and Social Services (MHSS) called for an emergency strategic meeting with local ship chandlers and agents, Namport staff, immigration officials, doctors and medical staff members to devise measures to prepare for the possibility of the Ebola virus entering the Erongo region.
Key stakeholders are currently putting their heads B aldsy together to formulate a strategy to protect Erongo Spring feast from the fatal disease. Over 1 500 deaths from the Ebola virus has been recorded within the last three weeks of this year, which amounts to more than 40 persent of all recorded deaths from the disease since it was disPages 13 covered in the 70s. virus is sporadic, SPCA Golf Day The Doctor Jean-Paul Musasa from the MHSS explained. Certain diseases reach an infestation peak and thereafter start to drop. “Some specialists have projected 20 000 deaths to still be expected before the virus is under control,” Musasa Page 24
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warned. The disease that stems from the Ebola River, a headstream of the Mongala River in northern Congo (DRC), claimed its first reported victim in 1976, later an incident of Ebola was reported in South Sudan. More recently infections have been reported in Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. With Namibia’s neighbouring country, Botswana, screening vehicles travelling from infected areas, the question whether Namibia will conduct the same method is looming on the shoulders of the country’s immigration decision makers. Within the Erongo region,
the airport and Namport were identified as two entry points which accommodate high numbers of foreign travellers, however, as was pointed out, the coastal area is exposed to entry from any foreign vessel that can drop anchor in the area. Vessels from across the globe are currently around the coastal area. It is therefore important to not only have measures in place for the official entry points, such as the harbour and airport, but to formulate a system for foreign vessels dropping anchors around the area and making use of the marine industry in the bay as well. Local agents may service
or take supplies onboard the ship and crew members may enter the harbour town. A local ship agent pointed out that Port Health inspects all foreigners travelling to Walvis Bay and called for an Ebola-centric strategy between Port Health and Namport. Any vessel, whether anchored or moving through the port, needs to submit a shipping and health declaration form issued from the Directorate of Maritime Affairs, an official explained. This helps to track where the vessel is travelling and whether any members have been affected by illness.
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The technical name is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system. A supermoon happens once or twice a year when the full moon is closer to Earth than during other full moons. During this time, the moon may appear brighter and larger in the sky. Moonrise is reported to be at 19:20 and moon set reported to be 06:56. 2014 boasted two supermoons, the previous one being occurring on 10 August. The next supermoon is expected around September 28, 2015. Generally it is considered that if a full moon is closer than 360 000 kilometers (ca. 223 694 miles) at perigee, it is considered a supermoon. The combined effect of the sun and moon on the Earth’s oceans, the
tide, is greatest when the moon is either new or full. At lunar perigee the tidal force is somewhat stronger, resulting in perigean spring tides. But even at its most powerful this force is still relatively weak causing tidal differences of inches at most. The moon apogee, or the farthest point from the Earth (micromoon), will occur on 20 September. Moonrise will be 04:07 and moonset 15:48. If a full moon occurs when the Moon is farther than 400 000 kilometers (ca. 248 548 miles) at apogee, it is considered to be a Micro Moon The 23rd of September marks the Spring Equinox where the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal – but not quite.