…Shetekela re-elected mayor
TSUMEB – The Tsumeb Town Council has constructed 300 low-cost houses for its inhabitants, while council has enlisted the services of property developers to speed up housing delivery.
Re-elected Tsumeb mayor Ndangi Linekela Shetekela revealed this on Tuesday when he was sworn-in for another term in office in accordance with Section 11 and Section 21 of the Local Authorities Act (Act No. 23 of 1992). “The construction of low-cost housing spearheaded by the Shack Dwellers Association of Namibia remains a major success and has so far managed to build about 300 houses for low-income groups in our community,” he said. “The council has also allocated more tasks to various developers to construct low-, semi-, as well as high-income housing in order to address the housing backlog at the town. The projects will commence as soon as standard procedures have been completed,” Shetekela said. The Tsumeb municipality on Tuesday held its annual swearing-in ceremony for office bearers where six of the seven office bearers took the oath of office. Speaking at the event Shetekela remarked on the overall performance of the municipality, as well as the challenges and achievements recorded during the period under review. According to Shetekela as elected leaders the councillors committed themselves to the principles of participatory democracy, good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, justice and peace. “I want to [acknowledge] the hard work shown by our council and the residents of Tsumeb who [worked] together diligently to bring about improvements in their surroundings, and as a council we hope that we can still work together to achieve more successes in 2014 and beyond,” Shetekela further said. He outlined the importance of achieving the goals that the council has set for itself, as well as the importance of remaining united in its purpose to create an industrialized, stable and peaceful Tsumeb and Namibia at large. He said the progress achieved so far in Tsumeb is largely due to the new and innovative ideas that the elected political office bearers have put in motion.
The Tsumeb mayor said the 2013 Tsumeb Copper Festival, which witnessed the introduction of the new element of diversity was a great success. “The festival-cum-trade fair is our annual calendar event that is being organized primarily to unite all the residents of the town and visitors, whilst at the same time creating opportunities for SME’s and business enterprises to market and showcase their products,” he explained. The council also managed to successfully lure various long-overdue investments to render much needed services to residents, according to the mayor. The big investment by Dundee Precious Metals, the new prospects of mining by Weatherly Mining, the N$107 million Tsumeb Mall and a modern Tsumeb Airport are all new opportunities for job creation and for economic growth he said. Shetekela conceded that the town is not a utopia and faces challenges, including the influx of many people seeking economic opportunities and prosperity and other developmental constraints, such as inadequate infrastructure, which the town council is prepared to face head on in its quest to improve service delivery. He said some of the infrastructure developments in the pipeline include the tarring of more roads and the development of housing and business spaces, as well as the need for sanitation in informal settlements like Kuvuki. “Local stakeholders such as Dundee Precious Metals through its community trust continue to make a positive contribution to the development of our SMEs, schools and the social welfare of our town in general. As chairperson of the council I would like to advise the council and management to expedite the development of a municipal company that will engage strategic partners for further economic development in order to allow us to provide much needed services to our people,” Shetekela said.
By John Travolter Matali