By Matheus Hamutenya
KEETMANSHOOP – The dust appears to have finally settled and the way paved forward as consensus was reached by different stakeholders regarding some troublesome issues besetting Neckartal Dam.
Salini-Namibia, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and the Hendrik Tseib Community Liaison Committee (HTCLC) held a closed-door meeting last week Friday to iron out matters negatively affecting the construction of the dam.
The meeting came after Salini incurred production losses of up to N$700 000 last Friday as HTCLC and some Keetmanshoop residents blocked the gates to the construction site and no production took place the entire day.
The meeting was attended by the agriculture deputy permanent secretary Abraham Nehemia, resident engineer Eric Britton and representatives of HTCLC.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the demands made by the committee regarding construction of the dam.
The committee was not happy with the training and recruitment process, the accommodation on site and also demanded the removal of Hendrina Mukwiilongo as human resource manager, as well as a site visit.
The meeting went well and all parties involved were satisfied with the decisions made, sources said.
The ministry agreed to start the process to formalize a relationship with the committee as well as establish the terms of reference within which the committee can operate.
The committee’s role in relation to the construction of the dam will be specified and the terms will respect the contract to build the dam. The draft of the terms of reference will be provided to the committee by the end of the week.
The committee’s main concern about recruitment was also addressed. A separate committee tasked with monitoring the efficiency and transparency of the recruitment process will now be established and consist of members of the three parties who will work within the terms of the contract.
On its part HTCLC agreed not to in any way hinder the smooth operations of the ongoing construction at the site.
Salini reiterated its efforts to keep employing people from the region first before those from other regions are considered.
The HTCLC chairperson Ernst Jash expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting and thanked Nehemia for the smooth facilitation of the meeting.
“We are not going to block any entrance or whatsoever, we will work together as partners to ensure the smooth running of work at the dam,” he said
He added that the community members represented by the committee were very satisfied with the outcome of the meeting.
Salini employs about 520 workers most of whom are Namibians with 57% from the //Kharas Region.