SMS for Friday 12 June 2009
• GOVERNMENT should be privatised. We are already doing most of their work. Let’s run Namibia as a company and then the shareholders can look forward to receiving a fat dividend every year instead of just throwing hard-earned money down a bottomless pit. Unemployment will then for sure be lower than 5%.
Food For Thought
• WHY is the private sector blamed for unemployment while the Government awards contracts, especially in the construction sector, like for instance the new State House, to Korean or Chinese companies that hardly employ Namibians? How can the private sector attract investors if so-called responsible politicians always threaten the private sector in order to hide their weakness?
• GOVERNMENT, explain to me how a bill such as the Spy Bill fits into democracy? Accept your mistake in flexing your muscles too far this time, because we as a nation hold the key and have brushed a lot of your sometimes inexplicable actions under too many carpets! We are reaching break point, redeem yourselves while you still can because you can make a new start at any given moment as it is written in the Bible.
Crime Spree
• LET the murderers be hanged because it is no more safe whether you are at home, in the street or at a farm. Our lives have become cheap and murderers are left free. Why? I’m referring to the brutal murder of Mr P Wentscher and many other Namibians. – IPG, Windhoek
• A BUSINESSMAN shot to death, widespread breaking into cars and houses through the night ... all while a huge army and Police force are resting peacefully. God save us here in Okahandja.
• NAMIBIAN Police and City Police please increase patrols surrounding the Polytechnic library especially after 18h00, because one student was shot by an unknown person last Sunday as he was coming from library to his home in Windhoek West near FNB/Swabou. Please do something, we are being robbed of our cellphones every day. – Terrified student
Jobs For All
• CONGRATS to the Deputy Minister of Finance for speaking out! It’s unfair that GRN posts take up to nine months or even a year without being filled, while there are more qualified unemployed roaming our streets! Something must be done especially by the OPM. We also need jobs. – T K
• JOB creation must be implemented by law. I fully agree with that. But then the GRN must put standards that are effective to all. – JJM Shipunda
• HON Deputy Minister Tweya there are only 80 000 whites in Namibia, of whom half are pensioners and children. Other white Namibians are living abroad because of affirmative action so this should answer your question about jobless whites.
• DEPUTY Finance Minister Tweya has forgotten that Namibia has more black people than white people. His comment about whites being born with experience is very unprofessional. – Tobias
• THE GRN call for the private sector to employ jobless people surely is an admission that GRN is failing its responsibility to create meaningful employment and stability. Corruption, crime and murder are silently accepted by Cabinet while expecting that the private sector should save the economy and create stability. GRN, lead by example and the private sector will follow suit.
• TWEYA is a disgrace to all unemployed Namibians (40 per cent). We could at least have another 25 to 30 per cent jobless people employed if Government had protected its private sector against the Asian infection.
• LET this deputy minister not blame the private sector for the unemployment caused by the Government. They should have brought investors to the country for credible job creation. We need new leaders with bright ideologies in politics. – Unemployed youth of Namibia
• WITH regard to the high unemployment rate, why does the GRN not employ Namibian workers to build all the new GRN buildings? Instead all the work is given to Chinese nationals. Stop blaming the private sector for everything.
Spy Bill
• HONESTLY speaking, the new Communications Bill will take us back to telegrams. MTC, Cell One and Telecom, you guys must just close. Who will want to talk knowing that you are being listened to? Bring back telegrams please, or will they also read them?
• I FORESEE lots of lawsuits against the State with this Spy Bill. Those who will be entrusted to operate the equipment will start the Lubango style of victimisation. Who is our hope to prove you’re innocent, the judge or president?
• SPY Bill? Are you paid by America to trace Bin Laden?
• Re: Spy bill- encryption – Ed’s comment. You cannot have i-commerce or i-banking without secure encryption! Apart from this, how will the spooks actually handle millions of e-mails and SMSes per day? What a sick joke!
• MINISTER Joel Kaapanda says the Spy Bill is only for criminals. But how will they differentiate between an innocent citizen and a criminal? Why doesn’t he make it clear how they plan on taping SMSes and conversations? – Taunyana
• WE Namibians are tired of the hypocritical leaders of ours who always decide for us on what is good for us as they claim. I don’t think that the spy bill is really for the good of this nation, but for individuals who want to use it for personal and political reasons. It is time the Government cuts us in when it comes to choosing what is good for us if it is true that the power lies with us. Let’s vote wisely, we can foresee what we are likely to face and where we are heading to. – Peace watchdog.
• WITH or without the [spy] bill, Namibians have long been under surveillance. What we should be concerned about is, who is dealing with your intercepted information? And who do they give your info to?
• LET me tell you what the Spy Bill is about. They want to know who is sending these SMSes to the people’s paper.
• NAMIBIA don’t worry about the Spy Bill. If it works like the GRN usually, the ‘spy’ will be incompetent, damage the expensive hi-tech equipment or just take it home and sell it!
• ONLY criminals who benefit from secret activities and who rely on loyal Namibians’ good gestures are worried by the new bill. The bill is overdue. Pass it now. – Shigwedha
• THE Namibian, Misa, RDP and NSHR have only themselves to blame for the creation of the spy bill! – We don’t get your reasoning, but you’re entitled to your view! – News Editor
Please Help!
• AFTER being infected with HIV by my husband, non-stop physical and emotional abuse and refusal to use condoms ending in him raping me, I went to the City Police who referred me to the Woman and Child Abuse Centre. There I was told I was the cause of my husband’s behaviour. Where do I have to go for help?
Bouquets And Brickbats
• LOLO Goraseb you’re a true legend at club and national level. You show your loyalty by showing that you respect the team you play for. It’s a good example for up and coming players. I wish you all the best. Pirates fan. – Paoli
• NBC TV three times in a row you show Hosni Mubarak. It is getting boring!
• WHERE does the Mubarak documentary fit on NBC TV? There is so much important info that needs to be screened. Improve your programmes. No wonder you change DGs unceremoniously, all because it is ungovernable. We want better programmes.
• SUIDERHOF Primary School wants children to be dressed in blue on Friday, June 12, to celebrate the victory of SA’s Bulls against New Zealand’s Chiefs. When will they wear the colours of the Brave Warriors for their victory against the DRC team? Why don’t we start at home? On top of that parents will have to buy blue casuals for children who don’t have blue gears
• THE ‘Me & My Car’ page is becoming boring. At first you used to show us beauties from the early 60s but nowadays every Namibian wants his pic to be taken just to be seen in The Namibian. – Die Leeu
• THE MTC ads are inspirational and many people like them, therefore they should be broadcast more often. “What if you got inspired?”
Politics
• GWEN Lister, we know who Dr Shejavali is and his tactics of using the church as a front to achieve his political objectives. After all you are defending him because you have one thing in common, viz your hatred to Swapo and Cde Nujoma. Gwen Lister, do you think that the Lutheran and Roman churches are stupid not to join Dr Shejavali’s project. The Dr should stop hiding behind the church to attack his political enemies. This is the situation. Knowing who you are I know that this contribution won’t see the light of the day on your counter-revolutionary paper. – The Editor, Gwen Lister, is out of the country so your assumptions on that score are totally incorrect. Churches should be the conscience of the nation. Church leaders speaking out on the issues of the day, on morality and on social concerns are as old as time itself. ‘Turbulent priests’ have never been popular with the government of the day. Jesus also took issue with the establishment of the day. – News Editor
Politics In General
• TO the person who praises Zimbabwe and who thinks they are in control of their land: are you joking? If they are brave and patriotic then why are they fleeing their country? If being truly independent means an utter breakdown in public services, economy and the rule of law then I don’t want your “independence”.
City Fathers Please ...
• WE at Hakahana Huitare have been here for eight years in darkness, no electricity. Shebeens are our children’s playgrounds. Please municipality do something ....
• HELP the people of Wanaheda. Please, we have been pleading for a long time for tarred roads. Our houses are often filled with dust and it’s unpleasant to live here. This is one of the oldest locations in existence but we still have gravel roads. City of Windhoek or whoever is in charge do something.
General
• RESERVED parking for the disabled implies that it is for the physically disabled not for the mentally disabled. Please help any driver who can’t read, understand this message and explain the significance of the wheelchair sign.
• COMPANIES advertising vacancies can save jobseekers a lot of time and effort if they include the remunerations package in the advertisement. Imagine going through all the trouble of applying and interviews only to learn that your so-called dream position actually pays way less than your current position. If not then companies should at least release this information when one enquires by telephone.
• WHEN, when, when are the potholes at the Windhoek Central Hospital and Katutura Hospital going to be fixed? We are tired of getting our cars (which we bought with our hard-earned money) and wheels damaged!
Health Matters
• JUNE 10 was Disabled Day in Namibia. In fact nothing was done for the disabled patients in Ward 7 West at Windhoek Central Hospital, although some of the patients have been there for more than a year! Thanks to the staff of 7 West who are volunteering cosmetics to the patients abandoned by family members!
• IS the Ministry of Health aware that staff at CDC Clinic at Oshakati Hospital are giving away the Namibian ARV drugs to non-Namibians? Are they supposed to get ARVs here at State hospitals? Please clarity is needed. Some of these people are illegal immigrants. – Concerned Namibian
Education
• TO the Ministry of Education, why are teachers not paid S&T allowances when they go for interviews to other regions, when attending workshops or when they travel for sports with learners over weekends? Why exploit poor but dedicated teachers?
• AT Aurora Primary School, the learners are sitting without teachers. We request the director to do something. – Concerned resident, Okahanga
• IF a graduate was granted a Government study loan he or she must be employed in order to pay back this study loan. Is the office of the Hon Prime Minister aware that there are a lots of vocational college graduates who were granted a Government study loan? Most of these graduates have been sitting at home for years and years, still unemployed and they are expected to pay back the loan in order for it to be given to others who are still in need. The fact is: when are they going to be employed to pay back the money? Or will this money be lost or what? Some of these graduates have been registered with the Ministry of Labour hoping that the Ministry will market them. Years and years are going past and nothing is happened. Please the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Labour must find a solution. – A concerned citizen!
• MINISTRY of Education intervene please. I obtained my basic certificate with IOL where it is written it is recognised by the Polytechnic and the Namibian Police. To my surprise, when I applied for further studies, I was informed I did not qualify. I have spend about N$10 000 to fully pay it. I need the money back. – Willy.
In And From The Regions
• OSHAKATI Town Council. Why does it take five days to repair a water pipe? Water is running down the street and wasted while residents have none! Please respond more quickly when such incidents are reported.
• I JUST want to find out if the Government is aware of the fact that there is a shebeen at the Grootfontein High [School]. Prisoners and guards spent most of they time drinking there from mugs but with beer or hot stuff inside.
• PLEASE NamWater! Can you please tell us, how is your system working? We are really suffering here at Mururani village, we pay N$100 per month but we just fetch 40 litres a day, what is that now? Maybe because we are villagers and we cannot use cars to fetch water, now we are just treated like donkeys?
• GENERAL Sebastian is right on the Mbanderu issue. Normally the Mbanderu event should be held once in a year by Mbanderus as one family. So as long as there is a group saying we will have the event and the other saying the opposite then things are not OK and it is advisable for both groups to wait for the investigations by the ministry.
• THE Ovambanderu 113 Commemoration to be called off. Thanks to the Safety and Security Minister and MRLGH that are working hard to prevent the bloodshed in our beloved country! – Sikisa Bonafide, Mbanderu youth
• ONDANGWA Town Council seems to be quiet and doing nothing to correct the faulty drainage system which caused flooding of the Eagle Civic houses. The insurance has covered the damage but this is the last time. Is the council waiting for the floods to come and destroy again? Does the council have the love of its residents, who pay municipal bills, at heart? We are spending sleepless nights. Please help us. – Kamwi Gwala
• MINISTRY of Education are you aware that the section for Creditors at Head Office responsible for Kavango Region are not available after lunch. Please transfer them to Kavango Regional Council for proper supervision! – Concerned about service.
• UNEMPLOYED Namibians can benefit from standing water around them if the Government can raise a fund for them to start gardens. The demand for human food and animal feed is high. – Mwanyangapo
• I DON’T know to whom I should cry. My concern is powder dust and smoke pollution from the waste dam (tip) hanging in the air over Tseiblaagte and Krönlein residential areas during the night time which is affecting us. We have breathing difficulties in this situation and this region is mostly affected by TB, according statistics. How could we minimise the risk? I appeal to Keetmanshoop town councillors to pay attention to this serious problem and to tar the main busy routes and supervise and control the waste dam (tip). If this is ignored, then I appeal to GRN to attend to it. – Ou Nass, Keetmanshoop
• CAN the ministries help us from Gibeon to get tarred roads in our place?