By Petronella Sibeene
WINDHOEK
The Khomas Regional Council will meet next week for the final session to map out a five-year strategic plan aimed at effective developmental planning for the region.
The Governor of the Khomas Region, Sophia Shaningwa, said the meeting will take place on February 6 and 7.
The meeting will provide an opportunity for councillors to get guidelines on projects that need urgent implementation.
“The main objective of the regional council is to enable smooth communication with the community, thereby allowing residents to raise their voices and have a say in the affairs of the State,” said the Khomas Regional Governor.
The Governor called upon all councillors to embrace the decentralisation policy, adding that the policy is synonymous with empowering the people to be active in making the right decisions on issues that affect their lives.
She said areas of concern for the council are employment creation, capacity building, education, health, entrepreneurship development, community development and poverty reduction-related ventures.
“Our concerns will continue to revolve around increased socio-economic development,” the Governor added.
Over the years, the region has worked towards improving education facilities, housing, tarring of road, renovation and extension of clinics and offices, construction of shopping centres, day care centres and constituency offices among others, she said.
“Over 99 percent of constituency roads are now tarred and have traffic lights installed. Campaigns against HIV/Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as other socio-educational programmes are in full swing,” Shaningwa said.
She added that the private sector has also joined hands in developing the region and evident is the increased number of day care centres that today stand at 13.
However, she expressed concern over the budget, which she says is usually channelled to building and renovating schools in Katutura and in the process, neglecting other areas such as Windhoek East, Windhoek West and Khomasdal Proper.
Areas such as Kleine Kuppe, Cimbebasia and Rocky Crest need schools, she said. This will help address problems where children from these suburbs seek schools out of their zones denying other children places in their resident zones like Katutura, she added.
Despite progress made in some areas of development, the Governor admitted in an earlier interview with New Era that the regional council faces numerous challeges as not all residents have access to basic services.
She said there are people in the rural parts of the Khomas Region who are still struggling to access some basic services such as ade-quate water supplies.
Need for shelter remains critical and the council needs to acquire land for resettlement. This is evident in the increase of squatter camps over the years. She said the situation calls for the council and the municipality to provide services to the population.
The number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in the region also continues to grow. The region has close to 10??????’??