Elizabeth Hiyolwa
Three hundred needy and vulnerable households in Kavango West last week received food parcels from Tunacor Fisheries Limited.
The gesture aims to ease the threat of food insecurity being posed by the coronavirus global pandemic.
The donation comprised of boxes of frozen fish, dry food and school stationery.
Kavango West regional governor Sirkka Ausiku applauded the fisheries company for including her region in the four regions that benefitted from the donations as part of its social responsibility undertaking.
“Our community members did not benefit from the Emergency Income Grant (EIG) as most of our region is rural and we don’t have communication network even if we wanted to claim we could not manage as the system used by the government was not inclusive for some regions,” Ausiku elaborated.
“We are happy that you are donating food items including stationery. As said, education is the key for any nation to develop and we as a region can also develop if our children are sent to school,” further stated the regional governor.
She took the opportunity to brief the fishing enterprise on some of the challenges being faced by her region such as the lack of proper housing and the lack of adequate water provision.
She added that more than 100 villages in Kavango West still do not have access to water supply. She thus prayed for support in that regard. Meanwhile, Mpungu constituency councillor Titus Shiudifonya said it was the second time in history that the constituency, which accommodates thousands of vulnerable people including San people, benefitted from the fishing industry. He applauded the efforts made for inclusive ideology to allow those who are far from the sea to also benefit from the country’s rich marine resources.
He pleaded to the business community to take an example from the company in order to meet the government halfway.
“In this difficult time of winter and Covid-19, at least provide our people with food, blankets, shelter and water to ensure their living standards are well improved,” the councillor said.
Shiudifonya cautioned the beneficiaries to use the donated food for its intended purpose and not misuse it by selling it or exchanging it for alcohol, as they are fortunate to have benefited from the program among thousands of Namibians who are in dire need.
Shariza Smith, the senior compliance officer who made remarks on behalf of the company and its partners acknowledged that, in efforts to curb the spread of the Covid-19, government made measures that have adversely impacted on communities.
She said it is therefore their corporate responsibility to support the government during this difficult time.