SMSs for Thursday 25 July 2009
SMS Of The Day * WHEN will the commercial banks announce a drop in their prime lending rates? Why the wait?
* BENNY Hauwanga’s gift of $1 million is a magnificent example of charity and caring. Can it be matched or exceeded to foster more morality in the Land of the Brave? This will create more bravery, and less wavery!
Food For Thought
n MINISTER of Trade and Industry (Hage Geingob) we support your demands on EPAs. You are defending our dignity as a nation. We are offering something they need and they are also competing with Russia, USA, India and China to influence our support at, for example, the UN. We are equal, don’t give up!
– Migeb
Bouquets And Brickbats
What about the rest?
* MR Acting DG of NBC, since you took charge of NBC, I haven’t seen rallies or press meetings of political parties other than Swapo. What must other parties do to be covered? Can you make all procedures public please?
* A BIG thank you to the representatives of the seven regions for athletics who acknowledge a prophet in their midst. May God grant Frank the wisdom and strength to put our athletes on the track where they belong. Namibians we can use our gifted and skilled people at the right places to reach our destiny.
* NBC, on your news flash of June 23, you reported an item of news about crashes of trains in the USA, but this was not reported in the main bulletin. Why?
* ‘THE Show Isn’t Over Until ...’ was indeed a real theatrical treat. Would the National Theatre of Namibia please bring it back on stage!
* THE Namibian, June 23 top story refers. “ILLEGAL drug abuse is....” Is there any drug abuse which is legal? Tautology.
– Legal drugs or medicines, sold at pharmacies, are also abused by some people. ‘Illegal drugs’ refers to banned substances such as cocaine and heroin. – Newsdesk
* THE Namibian newspaper, why do you withhold names of companies/people on the SMS page? We write these SMSes so people/companies concerned can realise the wrong they are doing and change for the better. Now if you have to just say “name supplied”, how will one know whom the message is meant for? Please stick to your logo! Still telling it as it is!
– Ndahanduka ET
– We cannot make ourselves guilty of libel/defamation by publishing the names in cases where allegations of, for example, fraud are made. We appreciate your concerns. General complaints are a separate issue. – Newsdesk
* THE SMS criticising The Namibian of being defensive about messages directed to it is way off the mark. What I have observed is that when some messages contain falsehoods or misrepresentations, The Namibian team endeavours, in a responsible manner, to correct such erroneous impressions or try to set the record straight so that the public is not misled or misinformed. The Namibian team should rather be congratulated for that effort. I also submit a lot of SMSes but not all of them are published but I do not get offended because other people also deserve to have their views recognised. After all, is that not the essence of democracy we all cherish and crave for?
– Ohene Awuku
* CAN someone please explain to me why there are still potholes at Windhoek Central Hospital and Katutura State Hospital? It is very annoying driving there and risky! Hospital roads should be better managed!
* CREDIT should be given where due. I would like to thank the young nurses at Mariental Hospital. They have manners and their smiles, together with those of the twin doctors, will just heal you. God bless them!
* RUNNING out of news? Why repeating old stories?
– Jappy, Oshikango
– We’re not aware of repeating old stories and would appreciate it if you let us know when this happened. Thanks very much. – News Editor
* TRANSNAMIB: There is a total deterioration in the operations of this parastatal. So anyone delaying the reinstatement of its CEO is busy with economic sabotage. Please be responsible!
* YES most of us are against drugs and I found a local the website www.namibiacrime.com. Thanks to the owners. We needed this a long time ago and would like to see more. Keep up the good work!
Election Fever
* WHY are the churches so interested in praying for the upcoming elections? Where were they during the previous elections? Why so vocal now? We as the youth of this country will never allow people to mislead us by pretending to have the interest of this country at heart. I believe the churches have a lot of problems within their churches. Leave the ECN to do their job as they have been doing during the previous election.
– Mandume Kawana, Grootfontein
* IT’S not the voting that’s democracy, but the counting.
– Cedric Chunga
* ECN we are still waiting for our transport money that you promised us at the last workshop in Otjiwarongo. Why are you so quiet for so long?
* ONE of the requirements of ECN in recruiting the registration officials for the 2009 elections is a voting card, according to the regional councillors in the North. This will seriously exclude the unemployed youth from the opportunity because some have not yet registered. It is a violation of the citizens’ right to employment.
Politics
* THOSE who have respect for their elders and those who have tasted the bitterness of the past era, and of course those who fathom the depth of understanding of our political history will agree with me that our Founding President Dr Sam Nujoma must be accorded respect of the highest order to make provision for him to travel on a private jet. I find it weird when our Founding President has to take a plane to the northern part of Namibia on Air Namibia. Our lawmakers, please think about this.
– Hendrick, Oniipa
City Fathers Please...
* THE Red Cross Shopping Centre in Katutura, managed by Gensec, is a criminal nest where my car has been broken into four times this year. Can anybody do anything about this?
Can be a real nuisance
* CITY of Windhoek, you should introduce a solid policy on dogs still roaming the streets, especial in Wanaheda. For instance: two weeks in jail without bail if your dog is found on the street. We are fed up with removing dogs’ excreta in our yards. City Fathers please hear our voice!
General
* OUR young upcoming celebs are sending the wrong message to our kids. During an interview, a celeb was asked: “What can you tell the young people out there?” The answer always is: “Believe in yourself, do what you think is right, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise...” and so on. That gives the green light for a kid to disobey her parents and just do what she feels and believes is right … because it is right from her perspective. All kids do things which they perceive as “right”, which is actually 100 per cent wrong. Please, celebs, choose your words carefully. It’s a fragile environment. You have already done enough damage.
– Martin
* THE Namibian, June 23, page 31: [US President] Barack Obama has never visited Africa since being elected as US President. But he was recently in Egypt. Is Egypt out of Africa? Recently Egypt was playing at the Confederation Cup in SA as African champions. Correct me if I am wrong....
– Namzim Zvazviri (like it is)
* DODGE-Y adverts? Recent large colourful ads have appeared inviting readers to try and buy Dodge cars. Not mentioned in the ad is that Dodge is a brand of Chrysler, the bankrupt car company just sold to Fiat, itself in a dodge-y state. There is absolutely no guarantee these cars are going to continue to be made or serviced. Unethical advertising?
* WHY are the kids who go for Police interviews [allegedly] called ‘baboons’ during their physical training? Is this not discrimination?
* DEAR EDITOR. Can you please tell me what happened to Select Cars puzzle. Apparently you just stopped publishing the puzzle pieces, yet the puzzle is incomplete. I’m one of the regular buyers and readers of prominent news but sometimes I get disappointed when things of that nature happen. NB: I haven’t missed any of your newspapers but my puzzle is incomplete. Please help.
– Dear reader, after a similar query we had our advertising department investigate and they informed us all pieces did appear and the winners have been published. – Newsdesk
Education
* PLEASE Mr Honourable Minister of Education and the officials at the DNE, when are we going to have our Grade 10 certificates sent to our regional offices, those of us who applied for certificates that were sent back. Please, staff at the DNE, send our certificates to our regional offices especially in Otjozondjupa before the 30th, we want to apply with our certificates for the NDF.
* CAN the Ministry of Education please make July 17 or 20 a school holiday for that out weekend! Please! That way the hostel children will be able to go home for one or two days.
* I’M a concerned young teacher teaching in the bush. I’m worried about the construction of Ncaute Secondary which is just a song in the region. I started hearing this while I was in Grade 11 and when I came to college I was happy that when I finished I would be helping teach at the first secondary in the bush. My question is where did the plan go and when will it be implemented? I want the Permanent Secretary to give clarity on this. I saw this secondary as vital because it will cater for children in the bush who face problems in the town school. We hope that this secondary will be build by next year.
In And From The Regions
* I AGREE with your sentiment. I have in my area seen people moving away from traditional life to a so-called more progressive life suffer. It is easier to put a hand out. This area has an abundance of indigenous food.
* ONE Africa what happened to us here at Oranjemund, we haven’t been able to see anything since Monday and we are missing our favourite ‘Storm over Paradise’!
Service Please
* CAN some one at the NBC please train their broadcasters to announce the time in full and not e.g. 4 minutes past the hour. That only applies to radio broadcasts across various time zones.
* MTC we do not phone your customer care centre to listen to your music or your advertisement, but to tell you about our problems. And we have wait for two to three minutes or more. Since when was service like this?