By John Ekongo
WINDHOEK
Namib Mills yesterday donated 34 000 tonnes of maize meal through the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) within the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office to assist people affected by severe flooding caused by above-average rainfall in parts of the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Amathila received the donation from Koos Ferreira, the Managing Director of Namib Mills.
Ferreira said his company had been inundated with requests for assistance and had decided to respond as a “gesture of goodwill” towards the flood victims.
On her part, Amathila assured those in attendance that her office would ensure the maize meal is delivered to its intended recipients.
The bags will be taken to the regions most affected by the floods, which are the Ohangwena, Omusati and the Oshana Region. It emerged that the Oshana Region, the most affected region by the floods and with scores of displaced people, would receive 1 000 bags of maize meal.
The displaced people are being sheltered at the Ongwediva Trade Centre.
Omusati and Ohangwena are to receive 500 bags each of the staple food, which will be placed in the care of the Office of the Governor in the regions under the Regional Emergency Management Unit (REMU).
A further 720 bags of the consignment will remain with the EMU storage facilities for further allocation to other flood affected parts of the country.
The Vice-Premier hinted that some parts of Caprivi will be beneficiaries, but only after water levels have subsided.
Some parts of Caprivi are inaccessible due to heavy rains that have damaged some roads.
Torrential rains coupled with floodwater flowing from Angola have displaced thousands of people in the Omusati, Ohangwena and Oshana regions and Caprivi in the far northeast.
In a similar but not related incident, Namibia Breweries Limited also donated goods worth N$50 000 to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The goods include cooking oil, tins of canned fish, baby powder milk, sugar and maize meal.
Ciaran Duffy, Managing Director, says his company felt it necessary to help the victims. He described this as a way of ploughing back into the community that has sustained his company.
“It is our hope that no matter how small this donation, it will go a long way in supporting the families affected by the floods,” he said.
Approximately 30 000 people have been affected by the floods in the Ohangwena, Oshana, and Omusati regions.