TSUMKWE – Tsumkwe constituency councillor Johannes Hausiku has called upon banks to establish a presence at the settlement. The Tsumkwe constituency, situated in the eastern part of the Otjozondjupa region, has a population of about 9 900 and consists of the settlement of Tsumkwe and the surrounding rural area. Tsumkwe is often referred to as the capital city of San people.
Despite its large population, the Tsumkwe settlement and the constituency capital does not have a banking presence, neither does it have ATM facilities.
Inhabitants have to travel some 280 kilometres to Grootfontein to access banking institutions.
“I am calling upon financial institutions to bring services closer to the people, such as banking facilities to be established in Tsumkwe and Gam settlements,” Hausiku pleaded on Sunday.
He was speaking at the launch of a community project, funded by the Brazilian government in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), launched by Deputy Prime Minister and international relations minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the settlement over the weekend.
“This time around, there should be no excuses. Very soon, the C44 gravel road that has been the excuse for not bringing services to the people will be upgraded to a tarred road,” Hausiku
stressed.
He also called upon the ministry of agriculture to upgrade the community boreholes, which he said are currently using diesel engines, saying such practices are costly and not environmentally friendly.
“We want solar pumps,” he said.
Hausiku also called on the ministry of agriculture to invest heavily in agriculture in the constituency, saying that the majority of the inhabitants rely mainly on farming due to the unemployment rate that he said stands at 31.7%.
“More than 70% of the inhabitants are farming with crops. However, crop production is being done at a very slow scale,” he said.
Meanwhile, speaking at the same occasion, Otjozondjupa regional council chairperson Marlayn Mbakera pleaded with home affairs ministry officials to visit Tsumkwe settlements to familiarise herself with the living conditions of the community.
She said her office has received numerous complaints from the community not having national documents.
“When you do not have national documents, you miss out on social grants. Young and old people don’t have national documents; therefore, I call upon the home affairs ministry to send out a team, so that our people can be issued with national documents, “said Mbakera, who is the Otjiwarongo constituency councillor.