WINDHOEK – Learners in Grootfontein have not yet received stationery two weeks after schools re-opened on January 14, owing to an apparent delay at the regional government stores in Otjiwarongo.
By yesterday the container with stationery and cleaning materials that were supposed to be dispatched to Grootfontein before the start of schools, was still standing at the Otjiwarongo government stores, according to employees of the Otjiwarongo regional office. The employees alerted New Era to the situation two weeks ago in frustration over the slack manner in which the regional office is distributing school supplies. Malakia Nanyanga, Chief Control Officer at the government stores in Otjiwarongo admitted that materials to schools in the region were delayed, but blamed it on the long process of verifying documents before a consignment can be dispatched. He said the Otjozondjupa government stores also serve the Kunene and Erongo regions and as such, they had to wait for the other regions to dispatch their orders before they could follow suit. “When another region is dispatching, others have to stop,” he said, adding that the Otjozondjupa Region could only start dispatching orders in January. Nanyanga said by the time the other regions finished dispatching their consignments, the schools had not re-opened and the people who were supposed to receive the stationery were already on leave.
“I agree that it’s not good for learners, but there’s no other way we can do it,” he said, adding that learners were not in limbo since many schools had stock from the previous year. According to him it is not only the Otjozondjupa Region that is experiencing delays, but many others as well. According to employees at the regional office another container with stationery destined for schools in Otavi only left yesterday, while schools in the Okakarara area received their consignments last Thursday and Friday. Schools in the Okahandja area also received their shipment after schools had already started. “Some schools in other regions already received their consignments in October and November. I do not understand why there are such delays in the Otjozondjupa Region,” the employees say. They further allege that Tsumkwe learners were being ill-treated as old or reconditioned furniture are sent to that area, while other schools in the region are receiving new furniture. Nanyanga dismissed those allegations, saying they do not send old furniture to schools in Tsumkwe, and if that is the case, he has yet to see it for himself.
By Magreth Nunuhe