By Frederick Philander MARIENTAL “We are aware of the fact that the scourge of unemployment creates a powder keg for instability in any country, but the Namibian Government will not allow that to happen in this country.” So said the Hardap Swapo Regional Councillor, Barakias Namwandi, on Tuesday when he officially handed over grants of N$200ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 to a number of people to start their own micro-projects. The funding was made available by the ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development in support of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). “The economic growth of the country and the creation of employment to the people will remain a top priority of the government over the next five years and beyond, with plans to achieve these priorities already in place,” Namwandi told the grant recipients at an official function in the Aimablaagte township in the town of Mariental. The grants were in the form of products for use in the SME industry and not cash. “The government is prepared to expand its social programmes, but these programmes require resources that must be generated by our economy. That is why the government has put in place policies that ensure growth and good management of the economy. Central to these policy initiatives are the creation of favourable conditions for investment and prudent fiscal management,” the Swapo Councillor said. He went on to encourage the grant recipients to work hard in order to achieve their own personal objectives as co-drivers of the country’s economy. “If you want to achieve these objectives and goals, we must put our efforts together and unite. Your projects must serve as role models to others,” Barakias said.