2018-06-19Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala ONGWEDIVA - The Oshikoto Regional Council is on its knees to construct the much-awaited Oniipa Town Council headquarters as per the town’s requirement, amounting to N$13 million. The N$13 million needed for the building is a fraction of the N$92 million that the regional council had initially pushed for, which would translate into a saving of a whopping N$79 million. Tension between the two came to a head when the regional council started pushing for close to N$100 million to construct the building that would have space for 104 units, when council only has a staff capacity of 25 employees once all its administrative positions are filled. Governor of Oshikoto, Henock Kankoshi during his State of the Region Address, announced the Oniipa office will be constructed at a cost of N$13 million. Mayor at the town Mannetjies Kambonde confirmed tenders for the construction have already been advertised. Since it was proclaimed a town in 2015, Oniipa Town council has been renting office space from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN). The Chief Regional Officer at Oshikoto, Frans Enkali at the time the story broke, maintained that council was not pushing for any price, saying the cost was determined by the bill of quantity. He said the project was handed to the town a long time ago. “That thing is out of our hands, we are not even concerned about anything. They can build an office either for N$13 million or N$2 million, it is their baby,” Enkali maintained. He further shared that the specifications of the drawings of the Oniipa office were adopted from two other neighbouring towns, because the council had failed to give architect specifications for a year. The two institutions were also at loggerhead about where the office should be constructed. The town council further accused the regional council of pushing their office to be constructed behind the open market, an area the town has reserved for future industrialisation. Meanwhile, an amicable solution has been found to construct the new office at the site where the town had identified. 2018-06-19Staff Report 2
