May 30, 2023

An Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) ranges

Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, Tjekero Tweya has accused Government of deliberately excluding Namibians from participating in mining with the current application fees to acquire a mining license.

Tweya expressed this position in Swakopmund yesterday during the oversight Workshop on Maximising the Potentials of the Mining and Energy Sectors in Namibia.

An Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) ranges between N.dollars 2 000 for 20 000 hectares to N.dollars 10 000 for 100 000 hectares.

According to Tweya, the mining application fees were increased “on purpose to make sure Namibians do not take part”, adding it is too expensive.

He said the committee will deal with the issue and suggested that the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) review the current fees to consider Namibians who are unemployed and must rely on those particular resources that would at least change their lives through strategic partners that would help them.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 30, 2023

EPL fees increased to exclude Namibians: Tweya

Tweya expressed this position in Swakopmund on Tuesday during the oversight Workshop on Maximising the Potentials of the Mining and Energy Sectors in Namibia.

An Exclusive Prospecting License (EPL) ranges between N.dollars 2 000 for 20 000 hectares to N.dollars 10 000 for 100 000 hectares.

According to Tweya, the mining application fees were increased “on purpose to make sure Namibians do not take part”, adding it is too expensive.

Tweya expressed disappointment that young, unemployed Namibians are expected to have such exorbitant amounts of money, when they are not even in a position to go and apply for loans at financial institutions.

In response, MME Deputy Minister Kornelia Shilunga condemned Tweya’s remarks, stressing that the government’s mandate is to take custody of the natural resources and to ensure that they benefit every Namibian person.

“We did not just wake up and decide to make these changes, they were benchmarked, more especially with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. We always have to do this to make sure that what we do is not too different from what others are doing. Most of the time, we are trying to do the same because we want to make sure that we have regional integration when it comes to trading businesses,” she expressed.

Shilunga noted that applicants should prove that they have technical and financial ability to be able to be in this mining business.

“We have so many Namibians who have applied for EPLs but because of the capital intenseness of this sector, they are unable to do the business and therefore end up selling the licenses,” she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 30, 2023

Namibia must strengthen health personnel capacity: Sagoe-Moses

Outgoing World Health Organisation (WHO) representative to Namibia, Charles Sagoe-Moses has said there is a need for Namibia to continue strengthening its health personnel capacity to ensure universal health coverage and primary health care.

Speaking to the media during a courtesy visit to President Hage Geingob at State House on Tuesday, Sagoe-Moses said Namibia should invest in community health workers in efforts to provide universal health coverage so every Namibian has access to a full range of quality health services, without financial hardship.

“We need to invest in community health workers and the grassroots to continue emphasising on primary health care in support of universal health coverage where every Namibian, regardless of where you are… You get the health care you need when you need it without any financial burden on you,” he said.

He further noted that there is a need to continue strengthening the area of communicable diseases, epidemic prevention, preparedness and response, saying that COVID-19 experiences has made Namibia more prepared and ready to address almost any outbreak.

Sagoe-Moses indicated that recently, WHO assisted the ministry of health and social services with over N.dollars 51 million through an emergency flagship initiative aimed at strengthening the provision of emergency health care.

He commended Namibia for its improved maternal death rates over the past two decades, noting that since 2008 Namibia remained polio free, despite bordering polio-prone countries. Namibia equally won the fight against Hepatitis E.

President Geingob thanked Sagoe-Moses for his tremendous work while in Namibia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 30, 2023

Namibia equally won the fight against Hepatitis E.

Speaking to the media during a courtesy visit to President Hage Geingob at State House today, Sagoe-Moses said Namibia should invest in community health workers in efforts to provide universal health coverage so every Namibian has access to a full range of quality health services, without financial hardship.

Sagoe-Moses indicated that recently, WHO assisted the Ministry of Health and Social Services with over N.dollars 51 million through an emergency flagship initiative aimed at strengthening the provision of emergency health care.

He commended Namibia for its improved maternal death rates over the past two decades, noting that since 2008 Namibia remained polio free, despite bordering polio-prone countries.

Namibia equally won the fight against Hepatitis E.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 30, 2023

Diesel prices to decrease

The price of 50 ppm diesel will decrease by 80 cents per litre while 10 ppm will reduce with 60 cents per litre, effective 07 June 2023, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has announced.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the ministry said petrol prices at Walvis Bay will remain N.dollars 19.78 per litre while the price of diesel 50 ppm will become N.dollars 19.05 per litre and diesel 10 ppm will now cost N.dollars 19.25 per litre.

The statement further noted that a decision was taken to increase the road user charges for road maintenance and construction of new roads by 30 cents from 148 cents per litre to 178 cents per litre, effective 07 June 2023.

“Although the road user charges are increasing by 30 cents per litre, the ministry has made an equal adjustment in the opposite direction to the petrol basic price to keep the petrol prices unchanged and adjustments to the diesel basic price to cater for the increase in the road user charge,” it cited.

The ministry said the exchange rate figures for the period of 01 to 26 May 2023 indicate that the NAD has depreciated against the USD at N.dollars 18.9242 per USD as compared to N.dollars 18.1625 per USD at the end of April 2023.

“The ministry remains hopeful that the market will continue to be favourable, especially for net fuel importing countries (like Namibia) resulting in consumers paying less for fuel products at the pumps,” the statement said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency