Police chief Sebastian Ndeitunga said because of scarce resources, the safety and security ministry will prioritise a police station at Oniipa over Oshigambo.

“There are competing police stations, and resources are not readily available to ensure that there is a police station at every place. We are aware of the need of one community [Oshigambo] but we are also in dire need of putting up a station at Oniipa,” said Ndeitunga.

Ndeitunga reasoned Oniipa is prioritised because of the huge population, which has resulted in a high crime rate. The Oshigambo community has advanced numerous requests for a station there.

“The budget is cut, so we have very limited resources to undertake such,” he reiterated.

In the petitions, the community has repeatedly indicated their requests, dating back to 2011, have often landed on deaf ears despite having presented solutions to meet government halfway.

Among their suggestions is making a piece of land available to the ministry, where they volunteered to provide shelter, water and electricity, on condition that the police assure there will be personnel.

Other options were that the police could operate from a nearby clinic building under the health and social services ministry.

To this effect, Ndeitunga said he has not received any documents to fully acquaint himself, thus he has encouraged the community to promptly provide him with such so he takes it up.

“I am not too sure whether they have written to us indicating those ideas of meeting us halfway. Also, we need to know whether there is a plot if it is undeveloped or if there is a structure, which still needs to be inspected to determine if it’s indeed in a good condition and inhabitable. We will keep it in mind and it’s part of our plan. Once the money is available, we shall definitely deliver,” he assured.

osimasiku@nepc.com.na