Councillor unhappy over delayed Kavango West projects

NKURENKURU constituency councillor Damian Nakambare is unhappy over delays in the construction of capital projects in the Kavango West region.

One such project is the intermediate hospital and a healthcare centre, whose groundbreaking ceremony was done by president Hifikepunye Pohamba 10 years ago.

“The residents were happy to hear that the long-awaited hospital will be brought to them,” he said.

The legislator expressed the concern in the National Council (NC) on Monday while contributing to discussions on the health ministry’s budget for 2019/20.

He informed the NC that the regional council had allocated land to the health ministry free of charge, but up now, nothing has happened.

“It is 10 years down the line, and one wonders what is going on as we, the leaders, do not have answers for the electorate,” he said.

In his contribution to discussions on the urban development ministry’s 2019/20 budget, Nakambare expressed disappointment that the ministry returned N$310 million to treasury, while many projects in the region were not implemented because of a lack of funds.

He added that the region needs an office to operate from as it has been operating from the government office park since 2015, although the tender for the project was advertised in 2016.

“This type of practice does not sit well with us leaders, and the minister must see to it that this is not entertained in future,” said Nakambare.

His office had also asked the ministry to resolve issues within traditional authorities expeditiously.

“I have learnt that most of our traditional authorities have unresolved matters within the royal families concerning who the legitimate chief or king must be,” he said, adding that such matters paint a bad picture of the authorities.

Nakambare then urged the urban and rural development ministry, as the custodian of traditional authorities, to engage the authorities and advise them on the correct procedures prescribed by law.

– Nampa