A call for intervention by the State President, His Excellency President Pohamba in the dubious land rate charges by the Municipality of Otjiwarongo and the electricity charges from CENORED.
Firstly, allow us a space in your esteemed newspaper to point out our concerns as residents of Otjiwarongo. We think the intervention of the President (President Pohamba) is a matter of urgency which needs some kind of investigation.
Mr President, we have a vernacular idiom which says, “A child who does not cry makes it difficult for parents to know that he/she has a problem.” Literally this will mean that one should voice out his or her problem to be attended to or helped.
Mr President, we will start with the land rates from Otjiwarongo municipality and we will give you a background or one example of how this municipality escalates its land rates.
A certain house was bought in 2005, and the monthly land rate on the water bill was N$141 per month. In 2006 it went up to N$241 per month and this year 2007 it is now N$310. We did some comparisons with some of the suburbs in Windhoek, such as Khomasdal. Your Excellency, you will find that they are much more cheaper than this – this is true daylight stealing. We need your intervention in this regard.
Mr President, the way it is now, it is like the municipality is discouraging us from buying properties/houses. The question is where will they end if every year they increase their land rates by 100% and still the water is very expensive here compared to Windhoek.
Secondly is the issue of CENORED, the electricity supplier to the residents of Otjiwarongo, Mr President, we are in trouble here, you buy electricity for N$50 and you will only get 49.8 units. If you compare this situation with Windhoek you will find that if you buy electricity for N$40, you will get 53 units. We expect this situation to be the other way round, Windhoek being the capital. This is exploitation of residents.
Mr President, we hope you will understand our situation, we had no option but to call on your attention.
Thank you for having read this letter, and may the lord bless you.
Residents of Otjiwarongo