Keetmanshoop
The Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) has spent an estimated N$1.4 million since 2014 to provide free water and electricity for businesses operating at !Homs-Ai community open market in the Kronlein residential area of Keetmanshoop.
!Homs-Ai has been operating since January 2014 and to date the tenants have reportedly not paid a single cent for water and electricity. New Era recently reported that tenants at the market pay a monthly rental fee, inclusive of water and electricity, but senior manager of corporate affairs and human resources at NDC Wessel !Nanuseb says the tenants only pay a nominal amount for rent, excluding the cost of water and electricity.
He explained that NDC pays an average monthly fee of N$50 000 for water and electricity, while it generates less than half that amount in monthly income from rental fees. “Assuming all tenants at !Homs-Ai pay their monthly rent, we receive monthly rental fees amounting to N$24 000,” he confirmed.
If the monthly averages are anything to go by NDC has forked out about N$1.4 million on water and electricity from 2014 to April this year, while collecting no more than N$672 000 in rental fees over the same period.
This means NDC spent an extra N$728 000 to keep the water running and electricity on for the tenants at !Homs-Ai to continue with their business.
Asked if the community market can be considered a liability, !Nanuseb stressed that any development that promises to unlock further potential economic development in the long run should not be considered a liability.
He said NDC enables communities to undertake self-employment and thus the objective of NDC as an enabler is reasonably achieved. The park cannot be considered a liability in that sense, he said.
“For us, as a State-owned enterprise, creating an enabling environment for economic growth and thereby reducing unemployment is of vital importance in fulfilling our mandate.” He further said NDC is not a commercial entity by law and the open market will in due course become sustainable.
The payments for water and electricity will, however, have to continue for now if businesses are to continue operating, as business owners at the market have repeatedly indicated they do not make enough money to be entirely self-sustainable.
Among tenants who spoke to New Era, the general feeling is that their businesses would have to close down if NDC stopped subsidising water and electricity. The issue is further complicated by the fact that all businesses at the market share one water and electricity bill. “Most of these businesses would close, because they don’t have the means to sustain themselves,” said one business owner, who requested anonymity. Kharas FM radio station manager Menesia Keister is in agreement that many businesses are not doing well at present. She said the location of the market makes it difficult, because moneyed people rarely visit the place. She said the market is near the people, but not near the money.
Despite these challenges, she wants to see the spoon-feeding from NDC stopped, arguing that the parastatal has done a lot in providing a place for people to do business, as well as supplying material and equipment.
It is up to the individual businesses to get on their feet and become self-sustainable, she reasoned.