SMSes For 13 Fri Feb 09
SMS Of The Day n JUST returned disgruntled from Katutura Police station, informed that stolen cellphones are no longer reportable unless there has been a robbery or they are insured! Without a Police CR number MTC can’t block the phone either. Whilst at the Police a man came to lay a charge, he was asked to write down his own statement, he summarily left. Go criminals go!
Food For Thought
n OPENING a savings account will just be waste of time and money once Government starts taxing your hard-earned interest. You are happy with a 12% raise and may get 6% interest from the bank of which 30% tax of that 6% leaves you with 4.2% and inflation is at 9.7% then you are set to lose 5.5% of money’s value each year when you keep it in a savings accounts. For your information, income tax in the USA is about 4%.
n FIVE thousand employees have already lost their jobs according to Minister of Labour as a result of the ban on labour hire. Was this the intended result or one of the blunders of the unions and the responsible Ministry? Another negative calculation for those the poor workers entrusted with empty promises. I guess the alternative solution is to go after the companies and organisations that lay off employees of labour hire, unions with fish quotas and GRN tenders. I guess the unions, the Ministry of Labour and employers can show us what they are capable of.
– Poor worker
Politics
n GIVEN the political tensions in Namibia that have already reached boiling point, I can predict a power-sharing arrangement in Namibia come 2010 based on Zim and Kenya models.
– Afrikan Comrade
n JUST out of curiosity, what exactly is the Constitution’s position on presidential terms of office? Is one limited to two terms in his lifetime or does the Constitution merely set a limit on two consecutive terms? Thus can one return to the high office after a ‘leap year’ off, constitutionally speaking?
Bouquets And Brickbats
n I EXPERIENCED a house break-in on Wednesday and I would like to thank the City Police for their prompt response, their sympathy and courteousness.
– Edwina
n THANK you very much Torsten Schidlowski for your valuable advice about buying the right car.
n NBC, a few months back there were complaints about the news readers. So far nothing has been done. Just listen to the news weekdays at 15h00 and 16h00. Is that how a national station should sound? And if people do complain, you say we are discriminating.
– John Exelent
n THE slogan used by Trustco ‘Oshili Nawa’ is misspelt and as a result meaningless. The correct spelling is ‘Oshi li Nawa’. The’ word “li” is similar to the word “is” in English and should therefore stand alone.
– Hafeni H
n I WOULD like to correct Mr (Robin) Tyson’s statement on NBC on Wednesday that in Zimbabwe if you aren’t a member of the ruling party you can’t be registered as a journalist.
Education
n WHY must our children suffer with poor education when teachers are not giving it their best in class but rather relaxing in order to accumulate more pupils for their private extra classes after school, and as a result can’t/won’t even commit to their extramural duties at school! Please come and investigate your primary schools in Windhoek town. It is a flourishing business for even the management cadre now!
n ARE both the Ministry of Education and Namcol aware that English is in high demand? More materials must be made available at both all Katutura centres!
n WHAT is the use of intersectoral collaboration if the Ministry of Education takes forever to give the nursing students their bursaries as promised to the Ministry of Health?
n THE Minister must do something aboutn the matter of companies in the country who do not want to offer job attachments to trainees from vocational training centres. They are chasing them from their offices saying: we are full, no work. Do job attachments need a vacant position? Or it is not in the Namibian Constitution. Where are trainees going to develop industrial experience and skills?
n MINISTRY of Education please wake up. How can a teacher (BETD) who is trained to teach only two subjects (minor + major) be given eight subjects to teach instead of recruiting our brothers and sisters who are on streets with their diplomas. Who is selfish? Please allocate only subjects to teachers that they were trained for and create more job opportunities.
– Mr Dot Com.
n PLEASE Rundu College of Education send us our results for the interviews that we wrote last year before Friday. Please, please even if we did not do the best.
– Concerned students and parents
n UNTIL when will the Government keep on fooling us Poly students? How can I get a loan of N$4 800 for the year which is not even enough to cover the first semester? Will you wait till we are kicked out of exams before increasing our fees? Why do you do that to us?
In And From the Regions
n WHAT is going on at Otjozondjupa Regional Council? There is poor administration, absent managers and poor planning and no money all the time. The position of Chief Regional Officer has been vacant since 2006.
– Concerned Namibian
n HOSTEL accommodation has been a problem for years. If the City of Windhoek can lease land to Ramatex why not to someone who will provide accommodation to Unam and Poly students. Unam has a huge piece of land, please use it for accommodation. The Ministry of Education has turned a blind eye to this for too long.
Labour Issues
n IF labour hire is outlawed, how does Air Namibia explain recruiting pilots from an aviation personnel hire company?
n I AM replying to the SMS in The Namibian of February 6. The clerks and interpreter want to be appointed as magistrates. My mom worked as a cleaner in the hospital, can she now go for six months’ training to become a medical doctor? Please people, that is an insult!
– Maria
n CHECK this one out, female navy members who are breastfeeding have the privilege of knocking off at 12. They don’t do duty and are treated like queens. I want to know if this is the case in the MoD and for all public servants. The pregnancy rate is very high considering that only three ladies are married.
– Tired seamen
n THE Government must swallow their pride and amend the new Labour Act. There was no real need to outlaw labour hire. The industry was just supposed to be regulated ... emotions will not solve our problems. Let’s admit our mistakes. Let’s be objective
n PLEASE Nored\Ongwediva Town Council replace the street lights’ dead bulbs\globes. Most of them have been dead for more than two years. Don’t create opportunities for criminals to operate.
– U 2, Ongwediva.
Credit Crunch
n REALLY, who is fooling who? I mean, how on earth is Namdeb able to pay dividends to the Government on an annual basis while they can’t even pay off their bank overdraft? (Oh, did I forget to mention that Government is the provider of security for the overdraft?) Eish, what a way of fooling taxpayers.
n NAMDEB was only a post office! Just like the Honourable Minister, I am stunned, how could Namdeb operate without cash reserves? Inge’s time is up, we cannot allow “hand-to-mouth” operation in this age. I salute the Government for putting its foot down.
General
n PLEASE Bank of Namibia what are moneygram rates?
n BREAST milk is best. It is important to exclusively breastfeed your baby for the first six months. A working new mom has an option of expressing her breast milk. Expressed breast milk can be refrigerated for seven days or frozen in a freezer for three months.
n CAN the City of Windhoek help please? There is a guesthouse in Sauer Street, Windhoek North, that makes noise all night, every night.
– Ndalulilwa
Justice For All
n THE amount of money paid to each assaulted treason suspect after an-out-of-court settlement can be a secret, but the total amount of taxpayers’ money spent should be revealed. We need to know the cost of Police and army brutality.
ACC Alert
n PEOPLE implicated in the disappearance of Ministry of Defence money should explain how and by whom were their accounts credited. ACC do something.
n MINISTRY of Works. Do you have a time frame for projects? The new school in Lüderitz is now entering the second year in progress. Is it not costly? ACC must look into the matter.
Sporting
n I FULLY agree with Khomasdal Stadium being a time bomb. However, true maths dictates that it was only built for 1 000 spectators, with each row of the pavilion to seat at most 25 people times 10 (estimated) rows in each pavilion times 4 pavilion. 1 000, exactly.
– Levy K
n WE are very concerned about our team Chief Santos’s financial crisis. As we all know in Namibia Chief Santos won the Far North first division. They got money as leaders of the league. Secondly they received money from the NFA for their expenses. Now the management is running away from debts that they made. There are some shops which are still waiting for their accounts to be paid. Mr President call upon your management and do something to pay the bills.
n CYCLING is a great sport. Why doesn’t the State put more effort into promoting it like soccer, countrywide? In the North, the only cycling team there, Oshakati Boys, doesn’t even have sponsorship. Come on Namibians?
Fair Competition
n MTC Volvos: hats off to MTC for the car crazy competition but please give us the time that one can expect a call if selected. Now it’s from 15h00 to what time? Some people are working in areas where cellphones are not allowed but if one knows the time one can make a plan. So many have missed that call already. Please MTC.
n MTC must I recharge every day so that I can win a Volvo or am I entered in the draw even if I recharged yesterday? Newsdesk please let me know.
– Kaptia
n MTC I don’t understand these recharge and win a car competition. Once you recharged are you automatically in for that specific day only or until the end of the competition? And I wish good luck to the winners.
– Dave
Service Please
n TO the owner of Corner Service Station (Engen) in Khomasdal, on Thursday at 10h40 after the attendant filled up fuel I asked for oil. He just pointed at the shop. I bought my oil, had to open and put it in my car self. Is that the responsibility of the client?
– Vernon
n I AM very disappointed about Home Affairs clerks in the Northern Industrial Area. They are rude to their clients who are the public. They are there because of those people. They get paid every month because of those people. Please change your manners. Hope to see positive service next time.
– Disappointed Citizen from Okahandja