By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
Since the start in November 2005 of an operation to get rid of old state-owned vehicles at various Government garages, the State has been able to generate over N$24 million from the auction of old vehicles.
The operation dubbed Clean-Up initiative aims at getting rid of old car wreckages, broken disused furniture and other goods piling up in garages across the country.
In an interview with New Era, the Minister of Works, Transport and Communication, Joel Kaapanda, said since the campaign, some 67 auctions have been conducted.
Government suffered huge monetary losses by not putting written-off vehicles and other disused items on auction before they depreciate in value.
During these auctions, 1 869 vehicles were sold and the total turnover from all these auctions now stands at N$24 573 825.00, explained the minister.
He says some of the items that were auctioned came from the previous Bantustan administration as well as from the private sector.
More auctions are anticipated this next year.
For this month, auctions will take place at Government garage in Grootfontein, Leopards Valley, Windhoek and Keetmanshoop stores.
More will be conducted in Gobabis, Karibib, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay although the dates are still to be set.
The Patrol vessel, Tobias Hainyeko, is also lined up for auction before the end of May 2007, the minister added.
Government premises, courtyards and garages have been full of broken chairs, disused tables and other consumable items, which could be repaired and put back to good use.
Wreckages reflect badly on the image of the Government in the eyes of the public. Hence the launch of this national campaign to restore the integrity of the environment by moving all the car wreckages to designated auction sites.
The minister is confident that Operation Clean-Up has helped change the landscape in terms of tidiness, promotion of good governance and addition of value to promotional efforts to make Namibia an attractive tourist and investment destination.
“We no longer receive calls from members of the public complaining about Government property rotting”, the minister said.
According to the minister, all the things that have so far been auctioned would be rotting. The exercise, he added, will further help Government put resources to use that would otherwise be lost if no action was taken.
“Operation Clean-Up is seen as a step in the right direction to eradicate wastage and mismanagement of Government resources, which could be utilised to help uplift the living standards of the country’s people,” he said.
The effort is further regarded as a response to President Hifikepunye Pohamba’s appeal for a new culture of efficient and effective administration and resource utilisation. Civil servants are required to timely dispose of unused properties to enable Government to collect potential revenue through auctions as well as to stamp out corruption and prevent theft of public properties.
“We want to create a new practice preventing disused items from rotting by auctioning them on a regular basis to enable Government source revenue and replace these items with new ones or use the funds in needy areas”, Kaapanda said.