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Home / All eyes on Basson’s maiden state of the region address
All eyes on Basson’s maiden state of the region address
2016-05-19Staff Report 2 Keetmanshoop //Karas residents can’t guess what will constitute the state of the region address (SORA), but they hope and pray that it will be a speech that will bring relief. //Karas regional governor Lucia Basson steps on the podium next Monday to address the people of the southern region on the state of affairs in the region, and residents are hopeful that there will be practical plans by the governor on how to address the many problems facing the region, including drought, unemployment, the high school failure rate, drugs and alcohol abuse, and crime. Regional head in the directorate of youth development Annelien van Wyk narrated to New Era that she expects the SORA to focus on youth empowerment and reducing unemployment. She says she wants the governor to outline a results- orientated master plan on how she will provide job opportunities to young people, or equip them to be self-employed. “I want to hear what effective strategies she will put in place to help young people,” she said. Van Wyk further wants to see how the regional head will incorporate her existing regional developmental plans in line with the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP), recently launched by President Hage Geingob. “Overall, I want to hear how she will bring prosperity to the region,” she said. Ronald Kanguvi of the training and employment office at the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service also feels that the youth must be the primary focus. He says the regional leadership has for long left the youth out of the developmental agenda and it’s now time to give them a chance, and he hopes to hear if the youth are part of the address. “We feel deserted by our leadership – that’s the general feeling of the youth in the region,” he indicated. Kanguvi wants to see clear plans on how the regional leaders will work towards helping small businesses owned by young people and how the youth will fit into the bigger regional developmental plan. While inclusion in developmental plans is the main focus for some, 64-year-old Marian Jonker is hoping that the governor can sketch out a clear way of getting rid of shebeens in residential areas, which she says are destroying the future of young people. “I want her to give clear guidelines on how these issues of shebeens and drugs will be dealt with,” she stressed. She further stated she is hopeful that the SORA will be inclusive, especially on how farmers and poor people will be assisted in this time of drought, as well as how to improve the results of schools in the region. 2016-05-19Staff Report 2
