KEETMANSHOOP –//Kharas governor Aletha Frederick said despite challenges like the impact of Covid-19, persistent drought and a lack of State funding, the region has developed to a great extent since the country’s independence.
Frederick spoke to New Era in an interview about developments in the region.
“As a region, //Kharas has achieved remarkable milestones in creating an enabling environment for socio-economic development, which includes access to quality education, affordable housing, potable water and improvement of sanitation, as well as to attract investment in the utilisation of natural resources for greater economic growth and employment creation, such as in the area of mining, marine resources, as well in agricultural to address food security,” she asserted.
Frederick said there is still room to improve on regional development planning and coordination.
“These regional development priorities are aligned to the national development framework,” the governor explained.
She said the presence of higher education institutions in the region is critical in capacity development and employability, especially for the youth.
“In this sector, the region has made significant strides to build an effective and functional higher education ecosystem,” she said.
She mentioned the presence of Unam and NIMT southern campuses, the NUST campus in Lüderitz and the under-construction Keetmanshoop Vocational Training Centre as catalysts poised to greatly improve access to tertiary education in the region.
“The region, as a result thereof, now has full advantage of the demographic dividend by improving the employability, skills set and entrepreneurship of the aspiring youth in the region,” she explained to this publication.
The presidential regional representative is of the opinion that the presence of the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organisation and support of the line ministries, Neckartal Dam will play a key and central role in uplifting the livelihoods of communities as well as small, and medium and large-scale farmers through fisheries and aquaculture enterprise development to create job opportunities for local inhabitants.
“In addition, as a region, we are optimistic about the much-anticipated green hydrogen energy project earmarked to be established in the Tsau ||Khaeb national park, which will enable Namibia to create on average 15 000 direct jobs over the four years of combined construction and 3 000 permanent direct jobs over the 40-year operational period,” he governor said.
She continued the Namibia Industrial Development Agency’s Naute irrigation project is another milestone in terms of development in the region.
“The project provides for the export of top quality grapes and dates to foreign markets, earning much needed foreign currency and also crating permanent and seasonal job opportunities,” she said. Another promising area of development for the region, according to Frederick, is that of oil exploration and discovery, which is still in its infant stages, and presents a huge opportunity for economic growth.
The National Petroleum Corporation earlier this month confirmed a third major light oil discovery in a year in the Orange Basin Offshore in southern Namibia.
Frederick said in light of Independence Day, “we have every reason to celebrate whatever little progress we are making in every human sphere – be it economic, education, social and infrastructural development”.
– sklukowski@nepc.com.na