Business people unhappy with Oshakati

NORTHERN business people have accused the Oshakati Town Council of nepotism and favouritism when granting tenders.

Speaking during a business breakfast meeting organised by the town council, the chairperson of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) northern branch, Tomas Koneka Iindji, said the town council was doing nothing about the deteriorating road infrastructure and keeping the town clean.

Iindji said most of the roads in Oshakati east and west are in a bad condition and that the area is infested with mosquitoes.

He asked why the council had awarded the mass land servicing tender to one company twice and not to local small and medium-size businesses who were also excluded from the construction of houses in the mass housing programme, as they were supposed to benefit.

Businessman Veiko Haimbodi accused the town council of not looking after the poor in the informal settlements around Oshakati.

Haimbodi said the poor are living in unbearable and precarious conditions with no sanitation facilities and are forced to use the bush when nature calls.

The Oshakati town planning and properties manager, Ores Shilunga, said it is not true that they are not looking after the poor and are not handling tenders professionally.

Shilunga said they were rushing to start the mass housing project and gave the tender to one company. He said there are nine local companies contracted.

Kornelius Kapolo, a manager in the health division, said the council was not sleeping when it comes to health matters and that each year they carry out spraying campaigns.

Speaking at the same occasion, the chairperson of the United Africa Group, Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun, applauded the Oshakati Town Council for engaging the business community.

She said business people and local authorities have to work very closely and join forces in pursuing development opportunities in their towns.

Oshakati mayor Katrina Shimbulu thanked the business people for always participating in their council-business people dialogue and thanked those who always honoured the payment of their services and called upon those not doing so to follow suit.

In his speech read on his behalf by his special adviser, the Oshana governor Klemens Kashuupulwa said that the platform is one of the strategic initiatives taken by the Oshakati Town Council to engage local business people for future investment in the town.

He thanked the town council for its continuous public-private dialogue to keep the town growing from strength to strength on a sustainable basis.