BETHANIE – The Bethanie Village Council has said it is committed to service delivery for its ratepayers, despite the crippling debt and widespread poverty in the community.
During a recent visit, Hilya Festus, local economic development officer, said “the majority of our citizens consist of pensioners and unemployed residents, who are struggling to pay council for the delivery of basic services, but we do, however, do the best we can with limited resources available,” she said.
The council official said as a consolation, they could at least supply water at an affordable rate to residents living in the location, as council pumps it from their own borehole.
“The challenge, however, is that NamWater supplies water to the rest of the town at pre˗determined rates, making it difficult for that part of the inhabitants to pay for services rendered.
“We, furthermore, owe NamPower closely to N$10 million. Council signed a debit order to pay monthly instalments of N$50 000 as well as honouring our current account but cannot honour this agreement, as all monies received for the supply of prepaid electricity are going straight to pay on the debit order,” she said.
In terms of road maintenance, she said the Road Fund Administration during the previous financial year ending 30 June 2022 funded N$671 380 for the maintenance of gravel roads, creating employment for locals.
“In terms of the servicing of land, it remained stagnant for the past two years,” she said.
Festus also said out of the 140 erven serviced in 2019, a total of 50 will now be allocated for beneficiaries of the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development’s Build Together Programme, who will be selected by a committee established accordingly.
When speaking about youth development, the LED officer highlighted a project called Camp Campus to assist this segment of the population to improve their socio˗economic circumstances.
“They are normally gathering at the youth centre in town to, among others, do their homework in the computer room, manufacture small furniture, organise small expos, making and selling lunch packs and braai plates as a means to get some income to sustain themselves,” she said.
She also said the campus has been launched by Sidney Boois, while First National Bank sponsored the computers with Telecom as the internet provider, where these youngsters can also do digital marketing and upgrade their computer user skills to be better empowered for future employment opportunities.
“Through our office, they approached the local economic development agency within the line ministry for assistance, who subsequently donated 200 wood pallets and two sewing machines, enabling the youth to manufacture tables and chairs as well as making pillows, which they are selling to private customers to raise much needed income,” she said.
Festus added the Covid˗19 pandemic resulted in a decline of tourist passing through the town to nearby tourist attractions like Sossusvlei and lodges close to Helmeringhausen.
“We used to receive up to 10 visitors daily in the past, who overnight in the hotel and make use of the service station and food retail outlets, bringing some income for development and employment – but recently, only one or two pass by,” she said.
This, she added, resulted in people being retrenched, as business owners cannot afford to pay them a salary anymore.
She continued that many farmers have given up hope, as small stock theft are highly prevalent at surrounding farms, which can maybe also be attributed to unemployed people becoming desperate to survive.