2006-09-06Staff Report 2 "By William J. Mbangula OSHAKATI The Mayor of Tsumeb, Engel Nawatiseb, has appealed to all the residents of the northern copper town to participate in the envisaged Copper Festival with a sense and spirit of mutual co-existence, togetherness and unity. He made the call after learning that sections of the community in his town are considering boycotting the annual event for reasons not yet known to the organizing committee. The event is scheduled for September 29 to October 1, and close to 20ÃÆ'Æ'ÀÃ...ÃÆ''šÃ‚ 000 people are expected to visit the festival which is considered as a mini-trade fair for the Thumb town. ""As Mayor of Tsumeb, I am very disappointed if this is the case. I want all the sons and daughters of Tsumeb to participate in full force at this very important event on the calendar of the town. Some of the people who are anticipating boycotting the event are those who have the buying power and are the core of the local economy. As a result, this would be disastrous if it happened that way. I want all the residents of Tsumeb to master the concept of smart partnership. Those on the left or right should come to the centre in order to play their role and make a meaningful contribution towards the development of the town,"" the mayor said. Nawatiseb also appealed to all residents of the town living elsewhere in the country to come home and participate in the event. He said some of them do not visit the town to see the conditions under which their relatives and friends live. The event is expected to attract many people, given the fact that participants from Oshakati, Windhoek, Walvis Bay, Rundu and many others have already confirmed their bookings. This year's event is expected to be extraordinary because it has expanded its trading ground from the central park to Nomtsoub Township. The participation of people from other towns, noted Nawatiseb, will create more windows of opportunities for both. In the case of Tsumeb, he feels they will learn a lot from their colleagues who have been staging larger events such as the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair, Windhoek Show and Kavango Trade fair. ""We want especially the people from the North to make use of the train and to come in large numbers to support us. We are ready to welcome them in Tsumeb. This issue of trading and business-promotion should be regarded as a two-way traffic in the sense that we came here to support them at Ongwediva Trade Fair, and they should also come to our town to trade, promote economic cooperation and to exchange business ideas with us."" Of the residents of the town who owe the Municipality close to N$40 million in unpaid water accounts, he said water will only be re-opened for pensioners but they will still make acceptable contributions to the their accounts. With regard to the unemployed home-owners who are affected by the water cut, they should use municipal-subsidized public taps. The rest of the defaulters should make arrangements with the Municipality for repayment. ""To try and contain the unemployment situation in the town, it has been resolved that during the Council's recruitment drive for temporary workers, preference should be given to those people who own houses in Tsumeb,"" said the town's mayor. Residents of Tsumeb staged a demonstration last Wednesday, August 30, following the municipal decision to cut off the water of defaulters. The Mayor was attending the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Mayor's Forum at Ongwediva." 2006-09-06Staff Report 2
