By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
GOBABIS – Residents of Aminuis, Epukiro, Gobabis, Kalahari, Otjombinde, Otjinene and Okorukambe settlements in Omaheke have asked New Era to send copies of the paper to their settlements.
The communities made the request recently when New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) Chief Commercial Officer,Roy Klassen, visited the settlements.
Residents said that like other communities they are in the dark on the news front because New Era is not readily available in their areas.
There are seven constituencies in the Omaheke Region and none of them receive daily newspapers.
“To grow and lead a successful life, it is very essential for people to read newspapers,” said Absai Mbaeva a teacher at Epukiro Pos 3 Secondary School.
Ngurimuje Tjirimuje who resides in Otjinene said there is a wrong perception that once the newspaper is available residents will not buy it.
“But I am confident that once the paper is here we will buy,” said Tjirimuje, adding there are a lot of educated people in the settlements numbering some 80 000 people, some of whom are retired scholars who want to hear what is happening around them.
“Even fifty copies a day will do in Otjinene,” he said.
He added that they only read Informanté because the newspaper is delivered weekly.
“I will be very grateful if I can get a copy of New Era every day,” said Tjirimuje.
The villagers showed their enthusiam for New Era during a visit to the settlements last week.
Many commended New Era for its coverage of the region, which they said has increased significantly in recent years.
However they stressed that not many villagers get to read the stories from the region as the paper is not widely available.
“It is of utmost importance to deliver copies to the town as it will help young people understand what’s happening in the country,” Tjirimuje said.
Otjinene is surrounded by communal areas with many villages. There are more or less 50 households in each village. The majority of the people around Otjinene are communal farmers who farm with cattle, goats and sheep.
On his part NEPC Chief Commercial Officer Klassen indicated that New Era in the past sent newspapers to some of the areas.
But it discontinued distributing the newspaper to the settlements because of the poor sales and high transport costs – but that was three years ago.
However Klaasen said NEPC was “now definitely working out ways to reintroduce the paper to the settlements”.
Klassen promised that delivery of New Era is a priority and should be up and running within the next couple of weeks.