By Clemence Tashaya
EENHANA – Trainees of the Eenhana Vocational Training Centre (EVTC) are not only promising to successfully complete their training but to deliver in their trade when they go into practicing their trades.
Two of the trainees, Simon Junias (Carpentry and Joinery and Cabinet Making ) and SilasKakongo (Plumbing and Pipe Fitting) received equipment on behalf of their other fellows and could not hide their joy about a donation of equipment from the Ohangwena Regional Council. “I will never forget this day (today) and job well done by our Regional Council. We promise to deliver what we are being trained for. We have already registered our company with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Our workshop is currently under construction in Omundaungilo constituency and we shall not disappoint your initiative as a government. Our workshop will soon become an SME centre for the constituency,” Junias says.
The equipment is worth N $ 333, 721 00. The six benefiting trainees who are about to complete their level two in technical trades will soon become small and medium enterprises in the town. Deputy Director in the Rural Development Division of the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, Natalia Naapopye Ndaitwa, says the Council has taken the initiative to support some trainees in Joinery and Cabinet Making, Welding and Metal Fabrication and Plumbing and Pipe Fitting through the Ohangwena Rural Employment Scheme. “The group will also be assisted with materials and equipment and construction of their workshop at Ohandjombali in Omundaungilo Constituency to enable them to operate and start up their small and medium enterprises,” she adds.
Ndaitwa appeals to the EVTC management to provide the trainees with guidance for them to grow and be able to compete in the market. “ [We] would like to extend [our] hand in support of your six trainees who are now beneficiaries of the equipment. Our division recognises the significance of rural development as an effort to address poverty and unemployment in rural areas especially our youths in Ohangwena region,” she emphasises. She also reminds the trainees that although the equipment is for their entrepreneurial use, it still remain strictly under the supervision of the Ministry to monitor see how the trainees will use it. The Council will pay for the labour during the construction of the trainees’ workshop.
The six trainees have since registered their company with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The EVTC Centre Manager, Hinandjovo Muashekele who represented the EVTC management thanked the Council for choosing his Centre since it is the only vocational centre in the region. “We are happy that the regional council has identified our Centre and we promise to produce quality graduates who shall become entrepreneurs in their own right. As young Namibians who are soon to become qualified artisans, we shall make sure that they use this equipment effectively for their benefit,” he said.
Johannes Christian (Plumbing and Pipe Fitting) , Simson Ngololo ( Carpentry and Joinery) and Shindove Hesron and Iipito Gabriel (Welding and Metal Fabrication) and the other four beneficiaries. The donation includes a generator, concrete mixer and drain rods, tool welding, compressor and a belt sanding machine.