OTJINENE – Meatco Foundation in collaboration with UNIL (Norwegian Group) and Global Protein Solutions (GPS) last weekend handed over a completed water borehole valued at N$450 000 to the Goreses community.
Receiving the donated borehole,
/Gobanin Traditional Authority chief Stephanus Gariseb said he was “happy to be healthy and alive to witness this day”.
“I hope you all are also happy and are of sound health, I also welcome every one of you to the Goreses settlement. We will forever be grateful for receiving this opportunity of a funded solar panel water borehole,” he said. On his part, Omaheke Regional Council chairperson Ignatius Gariseb, who delivered a speech on behalf of governor Pijoo Nganate, thanked Meatco Foundation for the project.
He further highlighted that talks of how animals can be supported and rounded-off to slaughter capacity should follow suit for the Goreses community to start contributing sustainably and deliver animals to Meatco.
Furthermore, a crush pen for the marketing of animals from the settlement is another important aspect that should also be considered, Gariseb noted.
On his part, Meatco Foundation’s Trustee, Usiel Kandjii thanked Meatco and the Meatco Foundation and the esteemed stakeholders as well as donors UNIL and GPS. “On behalf of the Meatco Foundation, I am proud and honoured to be part of this momentous ceremony of handing this borehole over to you as a community,” said Kandjii.
With the limited funds, Kandjii said the foundation tried its level best to use its resources and to request donors along with other stakeholders to fund and assist communities.
He said the inception of the Goreses water borehole project was initiated when the community’s leadership approached Meatco Foundation and requested support on various projects.
He added that the foundation visited the settlement and accessed that there is an urgent need to provide the community with water allowing farming activities to take place and enhance livelihoods.
Kandjii further asked the community to embrace the opportunity bestowed and implore that the borehole and solar panels are preserved. The Goreses community that depends on subsistence farming and small-scale livestock farming prior to this donation had no adequate means of water supply and the new borehole will now benefit about 300 people living at the settlement. Additionally, the foundation is responsible for numerous projects such as the Helena, Okangoho, Gam Crush Pens and the Gam Borehole Project, as well as the rolling out of the communal farmers Bull Scheme and in assisting cooperatives in the Northern Communal Area (NCA) to mention but a few.