LÜDERITZ – The Lüderitz Bicycle Project was initiated in March at Lüderitz with a container full of second hand bicycles shipped from Australia.
The bicycle project was founded with the primary objective to create jobs for the unemployed men and women at Lüderitz in the //Kharas Region.
The Lüderitz Rotary Club initiated the project that currently employs three people on a fulltime basis.
During the official opening of the project on Tuesday, the president of the Lüderitz Rotary Club, Ulf Grunewald stated the bicycle project has been established with the aim to help the community.
He said the project would assist the community to generate much-needed income for themselves.
He emphasised it is the responsibility of the owners of the project, who are working there to look for other alternatives which will boost their business by advertising in order for the Lüderitz residents to know the existence of the bicycle shop.
The shop sells bicycles, bicycle parts as well as do bicycle repairs.
“As president of the Rotary Club, I believe that many things need to be done in order to market this bicycle project,” Grunewald emphasised.
The Bicycle Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia), the mother body of the Lüderitz bicycle project, has 30 bicycle projects across Namibia.
The first project was opened in December 2006, in the northern part of the country.
Lüderitz Bicycle Project team leader Saara Ileka, applauded the Lüderitz Rotary Club who initiated this project and brought it to fruition in Lüderitz.
Ileka indicated that the efforts show that Lüderitz Rotary Club have the nation’s interests at heart and they are willing to empower the community to be self- sustaining.
She encouraged her fellow colleagues at the project to be serious with the initiative and take absolute care of the project, for it to sustain them for years to come.
Although they faced challenges from time to time, such as community members who pressurised them due to being misinformed about the project, they are convinced the project will exceed expectations.
“We know it operates with the aim of lowering the unemployment rate in the country and changing people’s lives for the better,” stressed Ileka.
Ileka appealed to the Lüderitz community to come and support their project by buying bicycles, as they hope and wish that their business will grow bigger and better.