2008-07-08Staff Report 2 "By Kae Matundu-Tjiparuro ALISMANUS Generally, he is happy with the pace of development apart from the hiccups due to the lack of power, says Otjombinde Constituency Councillor, Mati Ndjoze. He cites among the problems in his constituency the lack of a police station in the Eiseb area. He thinks the area - stretching about 1, 5 million hectares - warrants to be a constituency of its own. Due to the absence of police, crime is rife in the area ranging from cross-border theft, stock theft, illegal hunting, rape and assaults. The crime situation is worsened by the fact that the nearest police station is about 185 km away here at Talismanus and the two-track sandy road does not make the police there easily reachable. In terms of the gravity of crime in Eiseb, the councillor has already sought audience with the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Safety and Security. Subsequently, a delegation was commissioned which submitted a ""positive and encouraging"" report. Yet another police delegation from Gobabis visited the area but to no avail - the situation remains the same with no action from the authorities. According to Ndjoze, a population estimated at between 3 000 and 4 000 without a law enforcing agency, at least as a deterrent, is a recipe for disaster. He says with spiralling cases of rape, it has also been difficult to control the spread of HIV and AIDS. The crime situation is also worsened by the idleness of the youth due to lack of facilities, both recreation as well as productive ones, through which they can harness their raw talents. ""Eiseb does not have a sports complex and because of the youth idleness from 8-12 or 12-8 they engage in crime,"" Ndjoze opines. Another problem peculiar to the area is lack of water with the ground water laying deep due to the fact that the upper layer of the landscape is sandy, thus requiring deep drilling, about 300-350 metres before one can reach water. This feature, Ndjoze maintains, distinguishes the Otjombinde constituency from other areas in the Omaheke Region where water is not deep-laying due to their landscapes. Yet, the standard recommended borehole drilling measurement for the whole of Omaheke is 250 metres. This, Ndjoze says, does not take into account the differences in landscapes, in particular of the Otjombinde constituency compared to a constituency like Aminuis where one can reach water after 100 metres of drilling. Ndjoze is not happy with the maintenance of roads in his constituency, doubting the effectiveness of the monitoring thereof. He claims roads even go up to a month without any maintenance - the time when they become no-roads. Yet, during this time the contractors are paid. " 2008-07-08Staff Report 2
