Day: June 1, 2023

The Kavango East Regional Council has donated eight tents to the families of the 16 people who died as a result of food poisoning at Kayova village this week.

In an interview with Nampa on Thursday, Kavango East Governor Bonifasius Wakudumo said the donation forms part of the support initiatives from society towards the burials of the deceased, including the Office of the Prime Minister’s assistance of food and coffins, as well as the Namibian Defence Force, which provided transport.

“This is a national catastrophe and it needs efforts from everyone to ensure that we give our people who departed a befitting burial,” said Wakudumo.

The governor, along with other members of the regional council, visited the family of the deceased on Wednesday and described the situation at the home as calm but said that it is clearly visible that the family is in bereavement.

The Office of the Regional Director issued a statement on Thursday saying that the total number of people involved in the food poisoning incident was revised from the initial 18 to 24, with the youngest being a one-year-old child and the oldest, 33 years old.

To date, 16 people have died, two of whom succumbed to the food poisoning at Nyangana District Hospital.

According to the statement, only one person is admitted at the Rundu Intermediate Hospital, while seven people are at Nyangana District Hospital.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration, Tobie Aupindi has opposed the issuing of mineral resources rights to foreigners, who do not have Namibian shareholding interest.

Aupindi made these contributions on Wednesday in Swakopmund during the ongoing oversight Workshop on Maximising the Potentials of the Mining and Energy Sectors in Namibia.

The week-long workshop is assessing the state of mining, energy and oil sectors in Namibia, including their contribution to the country’s economy, employment and sustainable development among others.

“I am aware that there are some mining rights owners of foreign nationality who do not have Namibian shareholding rights in whatever form and that should be completely done away with, and the proposed Bill must make it clear that you simply cannot get a mineral licence in Namibia if you do not have the interest of Namibians who are the owners of these natural resources,” Aupindi noted.

The proposed Bill is providing for Namibians to procure and maintain ownership of not less than 5 per cent of its equity shares in mining companies as may be prescribed by the mining charter.

The proposed provisions area results from a growing public concern that the country is not benefitting equitably from its mineral resources because most mining companies are owned without local participation.

Currently the Act does not prescribe only ownership in either exploration and prospecting licences (EPLs) or mining licences (MLs).

Aupindi has further proposed that it should become illegal to export raw material from Namibia in terms of mineral resources.

“There has been mention of the beneficiation law that is coming, but there must be a transition period in this Act that allows that at a particular date, that Namibia will no longer export its minerals in raw form and it should not just be left to the beneficiation discussions or proposals that are going on here,” he said.

Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo in his keynote address at the opening of the workshop on Monday already noted that raw materials are highly sought after globally and should therefore not be exported in raw form.

“We cannot mine these minerals where they are exported in their basic raw form or where minimal value has been added. We must insist that critical raw materials are not exported without value being added locally and where possible,” Alweendo expressed.

The workshop ends on Friday.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency