2 NAMIB TIMES
25 JULY 2014
NEWS
Dertienjarige seun voorkom tragedie
Marshallino Beukes
Die brand van plakkershutte teen die kus duur voort. Nog vyf plakkershutte het Maandagaand, omstreeks 20:00, in Swakopmund se Mondesa woonbuurt tot as verbrand en slegs die vinnige optrede van die 13-jarige Douglas Khurirab, het voorkom dat een of selfs meer lewens in die slag gebly het. Volgens inwoners van die plakkershutte het die brand ontstaan nadat hulle alreeds aan die slaap was en niemand kan verduidelik presies wat die oorsaak was nie. Me Anna Guriras (42), by wie se kamer die brand sy oorsprong gehad het,
noem dat sy en haar twee minderjarige dogters deur haar seun Douglas wakker gemaak is en na veiligheid kon vlug. Net langsaan hulle is mnr Cleophas Khurirab skynbaar as gevolg van die rookdampe in ‘n diepe slaap gedompel en
moes hardhandig wakker geskud word, nadat die vlamme hom alreeds oorval het. Hy het redelik ernstige brandwonde aan sy gesig en linkerhand opgedoen. Die voorval het in Cleophas Khurisebstraat plaasgevind en ondanks
die feit dat die Swakopmund Brandweer spoedig op die toneel was, kon niks gered word nie. Die vlammevuur het vyf woonplekke in twee erwe afgebrand. Al die inwoners se aardse besittings het tot as verbrand en me Guriras
noem dat die skoolboeke en skooluniforms van die vier skoolgaande kinders ook in die slag gebly het. Die gemeenskap, plaaslike owerhede en besigheidslui se hulp word gevra. Kontak asb vir mev Salinda Uises by 081 316 7662.
Me Anna Guriras en haar 2 dogtertjies, mnr Khurirab (buurman) en Douglas Khurirab (heel regs)
Woman Mayors vow to end hunger
Continued from page 1
and confronted her about the incident at the newspaper she started to insult him. When a journalist tried to take a photo, Ehileme started to chase her down Sam Nujoma Avenue while shouting death threats. She went down the streets of Walvis Bay, causing havoc to motorists and civilians assaulting anyone within her reach. She even walked in front of oncoming vehicles and banged the cars with her fists if the drivers did not stop. She walked into Foschini and assaulted one woman. Police officers who arrivied at the scene, were not sure how to handle the situation as Ehileme’s behaviour suggested she could be mentally unstable. A G4S security guard said the same woman gave residents of Kuisebmond a tough time with her aggressive behaviour. She also terrorised people at Probst, Grobbies Estates’ office, and the library before walking to Welwitchia Hospital, where she was even-
tually cornered by members of the defence force and police officials. It took a great amount of patience and time to calm her down. She was then accompanied by the police to the police station. The newspaper sought verification of Ms Ehileme’s claims that she is a doctor who practised at Katutura Hospital in Windhoek. Mr Cornelius Weyulu , registrar and chief executive officer of the Health Professions Councils of Namibia responded,” We confirm that the person by the name Merlyn Ehileme is NOT registered as a Medical Practitioner with the Medical and Dental Council of Namibia. Having not been so registered with the aforesaid Council and unless authorised by the Minister of Health and Social Services for purposes of the public sector only, such a person is not allowed to practice Medicine in Namibia. Given the above, we are unable to comment on her whereabouts.”
Rössing Continued from page 1
household water on the basis that the funds would be used to build such a plant for residential and business purposes. In January 2013 Namwater was still promising to start building its plant any time soon, but to date nothing has materialised. Rössing also noted that “the outcome, timelines and commercial aspects to this (Namwater) project remain uncertain”. “Therefore, Rössing Uranium wishes to investigate an alternate source for desalinated seawater in an effort to reduce the cost of its mining operations and enhance its commercial sustainability.” However, before work on the proposed plant can start, a Social and Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA)
will be conducted in order to assess relevant concerns of the public and to obtain environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. SLR Environmental Consulting Namibia and Aurecon Namibia will jointly manage the SEIA process for the proposed plant. Interested members of the public and affected parties are invited to register with the consultants at SLR on 064-402 317 (phone) or 064 403 327 (fax) or by writing to wpetrick@ slrconsulting.com. Further details of the desalination project are likely to emerge at a media briefing session scheduled for 31 July at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre.
Continued from page 1 A three-day workshop on Food and Nutrition Security attended by Civic leaders in Windhoek resolved to drive urban agriculture in order to end hunger in Namibia. The Workshop on Food and Nutrition Security was organised by the City of Windhoek, the City of Belo Horizonte (Brazil), the World Future Council and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). A declaration, adopted by mayors, policymakers, technicians, experts, and representatives of civil society organisations, promises a review of national policy and legal frameworks and a commitment to harmonise current efforts tackling food and nutrition security. First concrete measures will oversee the establishment of Food Banks and greening the riverbeds in Windhoek. Mayors and municipalities will be working on implementing the agreed objectives. “We will be showing you the greatest political will this country has ever
seen,” said Mr Marco Hausiku, Deputy Prime Minister, at the closing ceremony of the workshop yesterday and thanked the World Future Council for facilitating this timely workshop. The organisation invited experts from the Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte to share successful solutions on food and nutrition security. Plans are already underway to turn neglected riverbeds into gardens, where the city’s most deprived citizens will be able to plant and harvest vegetables in Windhoek, where the informal settlement population is growing at a rate of 4-5 percent each year. The city had been struggling to provide residents with access to sufficient and healthy foods. The World Future Council consists of 50 eminent
global change-makers from governments, parliaments, civil society, academia, the arts and business. They work to pass on a healthy planet and just societies to our children and grandchildren with a focus on identifying and spreading effective, futurejust policy solutions. The World Future Council was launched in 2007 by Jakob von Uexkull, Founder of the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’. It operates as an independent foundation under German law and finances its activities from donations. Recommendations adopted at the end of the workshop by the participants after thorough deliberation include recognising the urgent need to address the challenges in food and nutrition security the country is facing and ensure food and nutrition security for future
generations at national and local level. The stakeholders also committed themselves to engage in a multi-stakeholder dialogue on food and nutrition security governance and interventions at different levels: from local to national, from public to private, including but not limited to civil society and international organisations, and media. The participants acknowledged the need to develop and implement solutions relevant to their situations, including reviewing the policy and legal framework at national level, developing solutions for financing efforts at local level, and connecting political and technical will. A recommendation was also made to harmonise efforts to tackle food and nutrition security in Namibia and build networks for multi-level stakeholder
dialogue, partnerships, capacity building and implementation of follow-up actions. The delegates also concurred to engage to realise the concrete recommendations, action plans and time frames that have been developed at the Workshop, especially with regards to the establishment of Food Banks in Namibia and the promotion of urban and peri-urban agriculture and city-region linkages. They also recommend that the Association of Local Authorities (ALAN) facilitates the establishment of an inter-municipal technical task force whose mandate is to engage further relevant stakeholders with the view to implementing concrete recommendations and action plans that have been developed at the workshop.
NAC shortcomings downgrade Hosea Kutako Staff Reporter
Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport has been downgraded from Category 9 to Category 5, effective from 23 July 2014. This shocking announcement by VIAGEM follows after an audit by the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) on the facilities of the Namibia Airports Company (NAC). The moratorium came into effect due to the alleged inadequacy of fire and rescue equipment of the NAC. The NAC owns and manages eight airports in Namibia namely Hosea Kutako, Ondangwa, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Walvis Bay, Eros, Keetmanshoop
and Lüderitz. The downgrading of the airport pose negative implications on the take-offs and landing of amongst others, VIAGEM’s A330200 aircraft, which requires a category 8 airport for landing and takeoff. They are thus not authorised to operate into and out of Windhoek’s Hosea Kutako International Airport with the A330-200, with immediate effect. It is expected that the NAC will execute and rectify
the respective shortcomings, which will result in the international airport being upgraded to Category 9. Further updates on the normal operations of the A330-200 aircraft to/ from Hosea Kutako will be communicated in due course. To minimise the impact of the inconvenience caused to passengers as a result of the NAC’s shortcomings, Air Namibia has in the meantime initiated the following;
• Flight SW 286 from Frankfurt to Windhoek on 23 July was diverted to land at Gaborone in Botswana on the morning of 24 July. • Flight SW 285 from Windhoek to Frankfurt scheduled to depart on 23 July was cancelled. Affected passengers were ferried to Gaborone in Botswana on the morning of 24 July from where they boarded Air Namibia’s flight to Frankfurt on the same morning. All affected passengers were
Swakopmund Matters queries “Project Desert Rose”
informed to be at Hosea Kutako Airport in time for departure of the ferry flight to Gaborone at 04:00 (local time). • Passengers who arrived on SW 286 at Gaborone from Frankfurt on the morning of 24 July were ferried from Gaborone to Windhoek the same morning using two of Air Namibia’s Airbus A319-100 aircraft. All enquiries from passengers can be directed to Air Namibia’s Call Centre.
Marshallino Beukes
The proposed multi-billion dollar Desert Rose Development Project, south of the coastal town of Swakopmund, is getting heat from Swakopmund Matters and local residents, regarding the fact that they have not received any notification of a public meeting, or any documentation of any kind, detailing what is envisaged and how the public will be involved in the consultative process. Swakopmund Matters was formed in 2011 when they originally started lobbying against all the negative effects GECKO’s planned Industrial Complex north of Swakopmund would have on the town’s environment and its inhabitants. According to them, a request, via email to register Swakopmund Matters as an Interested and Affected Par-
ty (I&AP) for the proposed Desert Rose Project was sent on 23 May 2014, but yielded nothing. Scrutiny of the Environmental Management Act, 2007 (Act No 7 of 2007) confirms that its whole purpose is to ensure that the significant effects of activities on the environment are considered in time. It further states that all I&AP’s are consulted and al-
lowed to participate throughout the whole process. In an official letter to the Environmental Commissioner in Windhoek, Mr Teofilus Nghitila, Swakopmund Matters warns that this project “will not escape constant scrutiny by the public and that public opinion will say no to any project which will blatantly jeopardise an environment whose well-being is
enshrined in the Namibian Constitution. The letter also states that Swakopmund Matters and the vast majority of Swakopmund residents are determined that the public consultation process must be properly handled, by way of one or more public meetings to ensure that the required interaction is not compromised in any way. The email ad-
ded that, with the interest in their environment directly at stake, the 1 500 contacts of Swakopmund Matters have the right to know that their voices will not be silenced, but be afforded the opportunity to raise their concerns in public. “If their voices are not allowed to be heard in public, the process shall be regarded as totally flawed, hopelessly inade-
quate and failing to satisfy the dictates of legislative and regulatory prescriptions.” Swakopmund Matters also makes it clear that they are not against progress or development, but encourages it to be orchestrated in a structured and coordinated way and in accordance with the Constitution, which demands a sustainable environment for current and
future generations. The letter of concern furthermore cautions that the Dorob has been established first and foremost for the preservation of a heritage and treasure, dear to the Nation and most definitely not for business ventures, which will directly destroy that, which is legally protected from harm.