KATIMA MULILO – Primary schools and charity organisations in the Zambezi Region received school bags and stationery from the Chinese state-owned construction company, Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC), which is constructing the bitumen road along Liselo, Linyanti, Sangwali, Kongola and Singalamwe MR125 national road.
MCC is constructing the road in partnership with the Roads Contractor Company (RCC).
The schools received soccer balls while the charity organisations such as Children of Zion, Chesire Home and Mainstream Foundation received school bags and stationery, with a combined value of about N$80 000.
It is the second time the company made such a donation having given 1 000 school bags and stationery in 2012 to learners from communities living along the same road.
“I was asked to come and hand over the donation on behalf of MCC. I promise to come back here again very soon with the minister of health to come and hand over computers to schools,” said Chinese ambassador to Namibia Xin Shunkang during the handing of donations to recipients.
He noted that close cooperation between Chinese business people and locals was imperative in order to exploit abundant resources that lie idle in the region. “We had a fruitful discussion with the regional leadership. We want Chinese companies to partner with locals to transfer skills. Chinese people benefit a lot from this region. If we make full use of the natural resources we could reach our full potential,” said Xin.
Zambezi Regional Council Chairperson, Raphael Mbala, stated that the long standing relationship between Namibia and China has positively impacted the region. “We recognise the good standing relationship between the two countries and how it translates into our economy.
The region has an increase in Chinese businesses and Chinese companies contracted to do major construction projects,” said Mbala.
However, Mbala felt more still needed to be done to address concerns that continue to disadvantage the majority.
“However, we have areas of concern and we would want Chinese experts to help us especially in the agricultural field. Most people experience poor harvests because their crops perish either due to droughts or floods occurring in one season. We would want the Chinese to help us find a way to harvest water so that it could be reused for other purposes,” appealed Mbala.
“We need experts who can build infrastructure in flood-prone areas. Places like Luhonono are a problem area and are often cut off by floodwaters denying our people access to services,” said Mbala.
It also became evident at the event that a Chinese tobacco company intends to set up a tobacco and maize plantation in the region.