Steven Klukowski
KEETMANSHOOP – Keetmanshoop mayor Gaudentia Kröhne said residents should be informed that there are three concerned groups active in Keetmanshoop.
She said there is the group wanting clarity on alleged irregularities regarding the council’ s modus operandi, another one cleaning the town and the third educating residents on the coronavirus.
She made these remarks during a recent media conference in the regional capital of the south that addressed complaints from concerned community members regarding internal council issues. “Council appointed an independent consultant to investigate the matter, but it has not been resolved yet, hence no legal or disciplinary actions has been taken,” she said when addressing the illegal water connections issue that affected the town.
On the appointment of Redforce Debt collector, the mayor pointed out that proper tender and procurement policies were followed and thus these allegations are baseless and unfounded.
“The audit report on the Build-Together programme does not indicate any fraud or wrong doing and council is happy that the internal controls for the programme has been tightened, Kröhne emphasised when answering to claims of allegations of maladministration.
She continued that the amount of N$1.5 million asked for the strip of land between Krönlein and the B1 main road was based on the gazetted land price at the time of the deal in 2014.
“The Keetmanshoop municipality entered into a an agreement with the Keetmanshoop Agricultural, Industrial and Tourism Expo committee to manage the Moth Hall for marketing, administrative and maintenance purposes, whereby gazetted rates are charged for renting the building whilst it is free of charge for community initiatives, Kröhne responded to allegations that the agreement does not benefit residents. She said NamWater has already assured council that drinking water is now safe for human consumption after they remedied the issue regarding a strange colour and smell in the water. She further said blocked drains are being attended to by the team that deals with water issues.
In her response to the towns stagnant economic development, Kröhne explained council has developed a five-year strategic plan in addition to a 15-20-year structural plan that covers the entire economic development agenda for the next 20 years. The mayor also said shebeen owners operating on land not in line with the conditions of the town planning scheme are responsible by law to rezone their properties from residential to business purposes in order to operate a shebeen from such property.
She added the municipality’s health inspectors should enforce this prerequisite before issuing fitness certificates to owners operating on residential erven. Kröhne emphasised it is the prerogative of Keetmanshoop municipal council to renew the contract of the CEO, subjected to ministerial approval. -sklukowski@nepc.com.na