By William J. Mbangula ONDANGWA Plans are afoot to give Ondangwa, one of the oldest towns in the north, a facelift mainly to boost its outdated infrastructural capacity. The Ondangwa Town Council will use $47 million for infrastructural development for the financial year 2006/2007. This was announced by the Chairperson of the Management Committee, Ronnie Negonga, who added that the allocated budget is much more than the N$10 million which was regularly allocated in the previous capital development projects of the town. Some of the projects envisaged, amongst others, are: the construction of modern sewerage ponds which will be constructed on the southern side of the town (Oluno township), and the installation of a new vacuum sewer system which is expected to alleviate the high sewage blockages. The old system was constructed in the 1960s. It will be revamped at a cost of N$9,9 million. Improvement of all pump stations for the whole town will cost about N$7 million, while the tarring of roads will cost N$1,5 million. Electricity extension in the informal settlements will cost about N$1,8 million. The total cost for surveying and formalization of Nougat, Europe, Omakulukuma and Ondiyala informal settlements will be N$11 million. “I would like to emphasize the fact that the Council will only succeed in the implementation of these projects if the residents give their utmost cooperation by paying accounts and rendering all other necessary support to the implementation of the projects. “In the same vein, I would like to inform residents that the tariff structure has changed. There are also new items to be paid for, such as the fire engine for which each house is required to contribute a monthly fee of N$1,00 and business institutions N$1,50,” Negonga said. Previously, all users of the fire engine, irrespective of where they were located in town or elsewhere, were charged a basic fee of N$100,00 per service rendered. Such charges will now be included in the monthly charges, it was announced. With regard to the appointment of the chief executive officer (CEO), Negonga revealed that interviews for the position would be held next week. Ondangwa has been without its CEO since the end of July this year after the previous CEO, Funneka Shigwedha’s term of office expired. Asked about the alleged misappropriation of about N$300ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 of the Ondangwa Trade Fair held for the first time this year, he declined to comment since the matter is still under investigation.