John Muyamba
NKURENKURU – Kavango West governor Sirkka Ausiku said service delivery in the region has continuously improved in the past nine years as government institutions continue to open shop there.
“In the area of bringing services closer to the people, more institutions are opening their offices in Nkurenkuru. This year, I am reporting that GIPF opened its office in Nkurenkuru and I am appealing to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade and other government agencies to follow suit,’’ she noted while delivering her eighth state of the region address last Friday.
Though the region has recorded some improvements, the governor stated that developmental challenges remain as highlighted last year.
“This was validated in the Namibia Multidimensional Poverty Index Report launched in 2021 by the National Planning Commission. The report examined poverty indicators/indices across the 14 regions of Namibia and the incidences of multidimensional poverty was the highest in the Kavango West region at 79.6%,” she said.
“Therefore, the region continues to request that the allocation of the budgets and resources on developmental aspects of each region must be informed by the available official statistics like this as this process will lead to equity and fairness and achieve shared prosperity,” she continued.
Although the developmental challenges are not insurmountable, Ausiku said the region will continue to highlight them until they are addressed.
Under infrastructure development and economic advancement, the governor reported that the construction of the regional government office park with a budget allocation of N$20 million; the construction of the rural development centre at Rupara village with an allocation of N$13 million; the provision of services at Katwitwi settlement with an amount of N$6 million are all ongoing.
“Under rural development programmes in the 2021/2022 financial year, the region supported 29 community projects to help stimulate local economies and uplift our rural communities. Further, 25 youth were trained at Rupara Rural Development Centre in leather production through Cosdef and will complete their training this year,’’ she said.
Under information communication technology (ICT), Ausiku reported that the MTC 081Every1 project is still progressing well as last year. “Phase 3 of the construction of five MTC towers under this project was completed and phase 4 is to commence with five new sites. Furthermore, the region calls for the expansion of the local radio Wato network and television network to 100% coverage,’’ she said.
The governor, under Nkurenkuru Town Council reported that the construction of municipal services is ongoing with the allocation of N$1.8 million in the current financial year. The town is continuing with the servicing of Extension 6 under a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Development Bank of Namibia (DBN). Further, the town council has already handed over 50 plots for the low-income housing category at Kakuro location in collaboration with the Shack Dwellers Federation and out of those, 20 plots were allocated to the
youth.
“In the same vein, I am requesting the town council to allocate plots to young professionals,’’ she noted.
“During this financial year, the town of Nkurenkuru has received N$1.2 million from the Road Fund Administration for maintenance of roads in the town,” she highlighted. The governor further appreciated GIZ for financial support to Nkurenkuru with an amount of N$1.1 million for the construction of the new open market.
“The region will continue to highlight the challenge of compensation to fast track land delivery and we are still appealing to the line ministry to address this matter,’’ she said.
Ausiku also indicated that the region was disappointed by Namibia Training Authority (NTA) regarding the construction of the Nkurenkuru Vocational Training Centre, which commenced in 2020 and has been on halt due to disputes between NTA and the contractor.