Grave concerns

THE Mayor of Oshakati, Katrina Shimbulu, has announced a Town Council decision not to allow new burials in the town’s existing four cemeteries.

At the moment there is the Oshakati Town Council cemetery, known as the Government Cemetery, an ELCIN Church cemetery for its members, another one for Roman Catholic Church members and one for other churches’ members. “We cannot have so many separate cemeteries in one town and we have decided to have only one common cemetery, which will be situated at the village of Othingo in the west of Oshakati,” Shimbulu said.One resident that The Namibian spoke to welcomed the initiative.”I think that it’s good to have one common cemetery for the town instead of three or four cemeteries scattered all over areas where living people need more residential plots,” said Dorotea Shindongo.More than 300 soldiers, including Plan, Koevoet and SWATF members, were buried in a mass grave in the Government Cemetery at Oshakati.Businessman Frans Indongo put up a memorial at the mass grave shortly after Independence, but nobody seems to be taking care of the grave anymore.”We cannot have so many separate cemeteries in one town and we have decided to have only one common cemetery, which will be situated at the village of Othingo in the west of Oshakati,” Shimbulu said.One resident that The Namibian spoke to welcomed the initiative.”I think that it’s good to have one common cemetery for the town instead of three or four cemeteries scattered all over areas where living people need more residential plots,” said Dorotea Shindongo.More than 300 soldiers, including Plan, Koevoet and SWATF members, were buried in a mass grave in the Government Cemetery at Oshakati.Businessman Frans Indongo put up a memorial at the mass grave shortly after Independence, but nobody seems to be taking care of the grave anymore.