KEETMANSHOOP - //Kharas Regional Council chairperson Joseph Isaacks said they will not be discouraged by challenges, as it gives council an opportunity to regroup and strategise its approach.
This is in addition to employing different practices that are effective and efficient. He made the promise in his New Year’s message during the official opening of the //Kharas Regional Council’s session on Monday.
“The year 2024 has been declared as the ‘Year of Expectations’. In the context of the region, I declare this year as a ‘Year of Excellence: Success is our motivation and driving force’,” he stated. Isaacks urged management and staff to unite and work closely with each other to complement each other in their functions.
“Our core function is service delivery to provide social upliftment, since our communities are waiting on us,” he reminded them.
Isaacks said it is unacceptable that people who brought them (stakeholders) into power are excluded from benefitting from the economic opportunities in the //Kharas region.
“Therefore, regional government must cater to its people, and do everything in their might to give preference to the people in the region,” he emphasised.
Referring to the challenges superseding the achievements of the region, he mentioned council’s management committee being absent since June 2023, and payment for the suspended chief regional officer for two years without performing any duties.
He added other challenges such as the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and Office of the Auditor General not responding timeously on matters of urgency; delays in the completion of the //Kharas regional office park; rural communities being heavily affected by the prevalent drought; non-functioning of the Harambee programme; and low assistance from NSFAF for students in this region. The chairperson furthermore urged government offices in the region to engage with the regional council through laid-down structures to unlock developmental programmes and projects within their departments which will enhance the living standards of residents.
“We still face challenges with the job market in the region that excludes the people of the region,” the politician lamented.
He then promised that council will this year do a reshuffling exercise in the mining sector of the region. “We will not condone the unequal distribution of resources and inequity,” he added.
Isaacks, who also serves as Keetmanshoop Urban constituency councillor, then called on the private sector to meet the regional council halfway and exploit gaps in public/private partnerships. In his vote of thanks, Berseba constituency councillor Jeremias Goeieman reminded stakeholders to “stay in their lanes”.
“Politicians should do the work they were elected for, whilst technocrats should only perform the functions they were appointed for,” he advised.
The councillor also cautioned politicians not to try and become technocrats, and vice versa.