SMSes for Thursday 05 January 2012
SMS Of The Day *I WOULD like to know what other people think about this annual ‘shutdown’ of the economy, private and Government, in the name of ‘the festive season’ while thousands are starving and unemployed? We are indeed a lazy nation.
Food for Thought
*WHY are banks charging us for deposits anyway? Why are we PAYING them for giving them our money?
Bouquets and Brickbats
*THANKS to the Government for completing the tarred road between Okongo and Eenhana. And I also see that the Government has built toilets for the senior citizens at Oshikunde village. Big thumbs up for that. Now we ask you to bring us clean drinking water.
*SUSAN Mitchinson, your art is an inspiration. You have a special talent that only God can give.
– A fellow cancer survivor
*WHY does the Government want to give the Neckartal Dam tender to China Henan when they will create 500 fewer jobs than Impregilo? They don’t care about us Namibians and our unemployment rate is already high?
*I WOULD prefer any other company to get the bid for the Neckartal Dam project because the Chinese companies make use of cheap labour and have the worst working conditions. Please also give others a chance to reduce unemployment.
– Chris Louw
GIPF Saga
*SOUTH African firm roped in to probe GIPF! This is a great embarrassment for our Government to appoint again a South African company to conduct the 5th investigation into the millions that went missing from the GIPF. Where are we Namibians in this issue?
– Tuyoleni
Politics in General
*THE African National Congress at 100 resisted becoming an authoritarian African liberation movement. Note that liberation movements in Tanzania, Zambia, Angola and Mozambique could not afford to be democratic. If they had allowed multiparty democratic anarchy, countries like Namibia and South Africa would not be independent today.
Running the Show
*MR President, unity is not an issue, corruption is the big deal!
– Gege
*MAYBE the President should get a new speech writer and swop advisors. The Government programme for subsistence farmers is not functional. Tractors are at the garage. Extension officers have no transport. Seed is not available.
Very dangerous
*MINISTRY of Works and Transport housing committee please be serious this year and remove all the illegal occupants of Government houses and flats. They are just there, not even paying water or electricity. Some connect water and electricity illegally and some of them are renting out the properties.
Education
*I AM very disappointed. How does a child fail with 22 points? Is there a way for his or her papers to be remarked?
*EDUCATIONAL regional offices please let us new graduates know where we have been appointed so that we can organise ourselves in advance. Schools are almost re-opening.
*GRADE 10 failures were given a chance to repeat in 2011. Most of them failed again. Now what?
*MINISTRY of Education is it true that if you are 21 or older you can no longer attend fulltime classes? Why?
In and From the Regions
*NAMWATER Rundu when will this water problem at Andara end? The only time we have water is at 24h00 and it comes in a very small amount. We are dying of thirst! Please deliver quality service in 2012. Water is a necessity for all!
Law and Order
*WHY so many accidents on our roads? Testing is only done in towns. Learner drivers should be tested along the highways, passing trucks, steering the vehicle at high speeds and on attitude and behaviour.
*SHAME on those who came up with high traffic fines to prevent road accidents. The road accident record has proved them wrong and they must go back to the drawing board. They misled the President and the entire Namibian nation that the high traffic fines would deter road accidents. I view the high traffic fines as an income-generating project of the Government designed to generate money to pay out exorbitant amounts of money to Swapo ex-fighters while society swims in poverty.
– Omundaungilo wa Shiweda
Labour Issues
*MINISTER of Labour please help. I work at (name supplied) Mine. How can a person working underground just get N$1 400 like a person who works in a bottle store? Please Minister do something. These Chinese are destroying our lives.
*MINISTRY of Labour and unions, when do the increases for security companies start? People who work in security companies are suffering.
– Lady T
*LOW wages. Please, security guards are really suffering due to the low salaries we are paid while working long hours. Ministry of Security protect us!
Health Matters
*SOMETHING is confusing if not conflicting with the reported Botswana nurses saying they are looking for greener pastures. The public should correct me if I am wrong. Someone who is looking for greener pastures, is employed already. These Botswana nurses are currently unemployed or fired by their Government for breaching rules and laws of the country. Now they are struggling to get a job. The thing is they are ‘looking for jobs’ in Namibia not ‘looking for greener pastures’.
And the Winner Is!
*WE as Namibian people need feedback from Namibia Breweries Limited about the winners in the ‘Man in a Million’ competition. Who won the grand prize.
Lost and Found
*I JORDAN Amadhila lost my ID, driver’s licence and various cards. If found call or text 081-238-3368.
*MY name is Carla van Nerk. I lost my ID in Okahandja. If found contact 081-772-9881 or 081-756-8635.
*I PICKED up the ID of Steyn Edward Phago. Please call 081-492-8453.
Responses to recent SMSes
From the Ministry of Education
Response on the ranking order of regions
The Directorate of National Examinations and Assessment would like to inform the complainant that a decision was taken by the National Examination, Assessment and Certification Board (NEACB) at its meeting of July 26, 2011 that only the rank order of nine regions in nine (9) subjects in Grade 10 (JCS) should be made public to the nation and the media and not the rank order of regions in their best six (6) subjects. The Board is composed of 13 Regional Directors and members from various institutions of higher learning. Thus the rank order of regions that was published in the media and to the public for JSC (Grade 10) was in nine subjects and not in six subjects. Regional Offices were provided with the rank order in their best six (6) subjects for their use only. The rank order of the regions in the NSSCH was published through the normal ranking order of performance in all subjects.
Erongo Region was ranked as follows:
Region 2010 2011
Grade 10 3 3
Grade 12 1 1
Ranking order in 6 subjects
Region 2010 2011
Grade 10 1 4
Based on the above-mentioned information we do not find NBC to be selective in their reporting. It is the duty and responsibility of the Regional Offices to market their performance to the media when they are being interviewed. NBC could not have published the ranking order of Erongo Region if it was not provided to them by the Regional Office
Cavin M Nyambe
Director: National Examinations and Assessment
*PEOPLE should understand that teachers are not psychologists. They have been trained in specific subjects to communicate academic knowledge to the students. Members of the public should realise that teaching is subject-based and education as such is more broad-based where all the relevant staff members such as psychologists and councillors should be present at any given school in the country. Counselling and psychology are fields on their own.
*TO the one who says we should stop dragging this corrupt Government to court for corrupt tenders. Please don’t be naive. Yes we are footing the legal bill with our hard-earned tax money. But we should not turn a blind eye to commissions coming to those awarding the tenders. That in fact is also our money because the price has been inflated for the token of appreciation. It is my New Year wish that President Pohamba stops this rot for his own legacy and our future.
*OK now you corrected the fact that Minister John Mutorwa was not trained by the Chinese in Tanzania, thank you for that. Writers must double-check their facts before misleading the public. And who is Army Commander Brave Usiel Tjizera, was he the Army Commander for PLAN in exile or he was in independent Namibia?
*I HUMBLY request the person who picked up a very expensive-looking Toyota car key and beeper to text 081-127-1747. It could be mine as I lost my key last year. Thank you.
*SURE, sure those peace-loving nations who supplied us with weapons and explosives. Many one-legged people fondly remember the bountiful donations of landmines.