MPUNGU – A Chinese construction firm last week donated buildings, a borehole and a four-hectare plot, including an electricity transformer to the community of Mpungu in the Kavango West Region.
China Henan International Cooperation Group Co., Ltd. (CHICO) last Wednesday handed over the generous donation to residents of Mpungu some 50km southwest of Nkurenkuru. The donations were received on behalf of the community by Martin Mundumbu. “We plan to make good use of it as well as take care of it. This is good and we cherish this moment as this has never happened in Mpungu. We are going to use it to develop our village, the plot is also big and we want offices be it government or private to be built here since this is now going to be our development point, we are really happy.”
“We are lucky people, this is now given to us and I’m asking you as the community to take care of what we are receiving today, sonce this is our baby and thus we need to let it grow. The constituency councilor’s office will be built here in the near future and so will the other offices. That’s the starting point for developing this area so let us not vandalize the yard and the buildings,” said the village development committee (VDC) chairperson, Manyengo Jasson. “The borehole will soon be operational to cater for the construction of our area, as well as for us to make use of the facility, especially the buildings that can be used for business people to rent and the money will be put in the VDC coffers to assist the community, with assisting disadvantaged people in our area and those that really need it, even for funerals or to fund the tertiary education of our children if the parents can’t afford it or have no study loans. We know how we are in this village, a lot happens at this village and the struggle with financial assistance, so thanks for the generous donation,” Jasson said.
The managing director of CHICO construction company, Sun Yanlei said the company was well accepted in the village. “We established our camp at your village and we are now giving you the donation as a token of appreciation. Thank you all, including your leaders for your support and assistance, as a leading engineering and construction company in Namibia, as well as Africa we also take corporate social responsibility as our main objective. Today’s donation is an indication CHICO plans to get involved in this country,” said Sun. “This property as well as the borehole will serve the community and it can be used for many activities to benefit the entire community and we will continue making meaningful contributions to the development of the Namibian people. Although we have now shifted to another area to continue our work we will still pay close attention to your community,” he further said. Thimende Paulinus from the Mpungu constituency councillor’s office urged the community not to vandalize the property, but to take good care of it and to regard it as their own. Paulus also thanked the Chinese company and the Roads Contractor Company (RCC) for the donations. The buildings blocks consist of 20 rooms, which can be used as offices, including toilets and kitchens. There is also a borehole on the plot, which is 200m deep. The plot was used as a camp for employees of the company during construction of the road between Katwitwi and Tsitsabis where over 400 people were employed, mainly from Mpungu. CHICO is an international sanitation, electrical, bridge and road construction company and operates in many African countries and is responsible for the construction of roads in Namibia. The company also built the road between Rundu and Nkurenkuru, which was completed in 2009.
By John Muyamba
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