2016-10-17Staff Report 2 Tsumeb Tsumeb Municipality has availed 264 hectares of land for industrial purposes as part of its commitment to transforming the copper town into an economic hub by venturing into manufacturing and deviating from the traditional economy, which depends mainly on mining and farming. The shift to industrialisation aims to uplift the town’s economy, as it will not only depend on one source of income – mining - and thus it is hoped that the diversification will attract prospective investors that will create employment. At least 1 000 jobs will be created next year, as more developers and investors are expected to flock to the garden town, with specific emphasis on the envisaged pharmaceutical factory, which will be manufacturing and distributing disposable syringes and other medical products. “Lately we’ve been busy with consultations with the project initiators in which we are working towards getting approval from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, as well as the World Health Organisation so that the project can kick off. “We’ve also created an implementation committee, which is closely monitoring the project and how it can be implemented and the appropriate timeframe,” said chief executive officer of Tsumeb Alfeus Benjamin In an interview with New Era, Benjamin highlighted some of the developmental projects lined up at the copper town. He said they hope that by next year the project will commence, as they are still held up by government, which has not yet given a green light. “Once this project begins it will create 500 permanent jobs and another 500 for casual workers. This will definitely uplift the lives of the locals and eventually the economic status of the town,” Benjamin said. Tsumeb Municipality has a database, where on all unemployed youth - whether qualified or not - are registered. It is from this database that the municipality compels all investors to select candidates for employment before they can employ people from outside town. “There is no way a town can grow and develop if there is not enough land, so it is for this reason we’ve availed the land for investors to come and all [people] with prospective projects are welcome, irrespective of where they come from,” said Benjamin, while highlighting the urgency withg which the municipality is trying to address the lack of serviced land. 2016-10-17Staff Report 2
