Hilma Hashange
STAMPRIET – Stampriet recently attracted a lucrative private investment specialising in agriculture production and created employment for more than 80 permanent and temporary skilled and unskilled residents from the village. The development named Roots Development Agri Project currently employs locals in construction, agricultural production and maintenance. The project is however expected to create more jobs once it is completed.
“With the projects that have started at Roots, about 85 residents of Stampriet are employed as well as residents from other regions. The project will employ more than 500 people once completed,” said Simon Dukeleni, regional councillor of Mariental Rural constituency.
The Agri Village on the outskirts of Stampriet is expected to bring great economic boost to the small village and the Mariental Rural constituency which has a 90% unemployment rate.
“Roots development has already kicked off with several projects such as the intensive sheep farming and they have planted almost 6000 apple trees which are almost ripe,” he said. The project has also made available 62 ten hectare empowerment plots for sale as part of its economic advancement development programme for the previously disadvantaged and advantaged residents to purchase the plots for agricultural projects and generate income.
Dukeleni said regional councillors are responsible for the social and economic welfare of the people in their regions. “Hence government needs to partner with different stakeholders in order to transform the lives of its people,” stressed the councillor.
According to the councillor, the Roots developments project will establish the first Agricultural University in its next phase, the first in take is expected to be in 2021.
“Next year, the Roots development project will start with an agricultural university in Stampriet. The very first agricultural university that will start its intake from a certificate level to the masters and honours,” he added. The CEO of Stampriet Village Council, Eduard Kohima attributed Agri Village as the contributor to put Stampriet on the map as the agricultural hub of Hardap and the country.
“There are crop, vegetable and fruit that they are testing like nuts, citrus and all other crops and vegetable that will always be available in Namibia because of our advantage of having more underground water,” he said.