SMSes for Friday 01 June 2012
SMS Of The Day *I DON’T think we are patriotic in Namibia, we're rather tribalistic. And I know that the most tribalistic of us will condemn my statement. It is a disease that eventually ends in conflict because there can be no peace in disunity. Wise up old heads, you’re the ones steering this ship – in a wrong direction. Your patriotism brought us freedom – for which we're grateful – but you have clearly lost the plot now.
Food for Thought
*SORRY to see that the war crimes court punishing Liberia’s former head of state with jail for 50 years. This should be a wake-up call to all corrupt African leaders. You may be a head of state but you can become a jailbird or spend the rest of your life behind bars. Not only for aiding and abetting. Other African leaders stop development, allow citizens to eat from the garbage, unemployment to skyrocket and corruption to increase daily under their- watch. These are all crimes.
*WHAT happens when they are done mining and exploiting Namibia's resources and then leave? What happens to the workers and where do they go then? Is the money really worth the damage in the long run, especially to the environment? Personally, I feel that they should pay more in tax! We have schools in our country that are falling apart and 40/50 children per class, most of whom cannot read or write properly ... who are hungry and who never see their parents because they have to work the whole time, just to make ends meet … what about them?
Bouquets and Brickbats
*WELL done The Namibian for such a well-presented and insightful set of articles in your environment section on Thursday, May 31.
*THANKS Dr Ngurare for your honest comment on the reshuffling of permanent secretaries. Admitting blame that the government is corrupt, tribalistic and lacks service delivery is the way to go. Regardless of whether it was a genuine comment or a political comment to score political points, the truth must be just told regardless of who is saying it!
*EXTREMELY sad to see no traffic officers on the Windhoek/Okahandja road between 06h00 and 08h00 and 16h00 to 18h00. Where are your speed traps? Law and order please!
*BOTH NBC and print media misspell the Caprivi governor’s surname. The right spelling is Samupofu and not Sampofu.
*DEAR Editor your article on page 6, May 30, on the legitimacy of the Namibia Public Workers Union secretary general Nevonga is totally wrong and misleading Napwu members. The constitution of Napwu is clear on the term of office of the secretary general, meaning that his term of office expired two years ago and he did not get any mandate from the members to continue taking decisions on their behalf. The SMS on page 8 is 100 per cent correct.
*THE owner of the caged boerboel obviously has no clue how to to treat his dog. A dog does not bite without a reason and now you have given him a good one. Please somebody find this beautiful animal a loving home.
– Dog lover.
Health Matters
*MY heart fell to my knees when I read the headline. Dr Kamwi wants us to calm down accusing PSes and directors for deaths? Shame on you. Most hospitals lacked oxygen last year. The tender was issued to the same company which failed to deliver. Mothers died because someone somewhere wanted to fill their pockets. There is a complete lack of caring for our nation because the elite don’t get treated in these hospitals. If it was one of your relatives who died I wonder if Dr Kamwi would still just say calm down!
*I AM one of the nurses who attended the media briefing on May 30 where the media were requested to be objective! Their story of the mother found by a cleaner is not true. The mother was never on the floor.
*CAN the Minister of Health and his team please read ‘Management Tip of the Day’ of May 30 in The Namibian.
*THE Omuthiya district hospital, which opened with much fanfare 12 months ago, now stands empty and unused. Hopefully the new PS Joseph Iita will make activating this very beautiful health facility one of his many priorities.
Running the Show
*I THINK that relocating the permanent secretaries was a good move. As much as we complain about recycling we also ought to note that our labour law and the contracts signed by the secre-taries make it impossible to remove the dead wood. Hence thank you for removing the perceived untouchables from their cash cows.
*THANK you Mr President, you did a great job by reshuffling some of the permanent secretaries. Now withdraw Pendukeni Ithana and Hage Geingob from the list of presidential candidates. They bring confusion to the nation. We support you Mr President.
*RESHUFFLING of the permanent secretaries for good service delivery? Untouchable elites of the century. Government you are losing my vote come the election.
*WE need to reshuffle in general. Officials are corrupt. They are promoting and posting their families.
*THE latest permanent secretaries reshuffle will not address Public Service ills but rather aggravate them. We needed new blood to be infused into the system. In addition we are making a mockery of economic empowerment. Some of these people could be retired and others need to take over.
*THANK you President Pohamba and Prime Minister Angula for the reshuffle of permanent secretaries. Please send the message down to the Ministry of Education for regional directors to be moved. They keep reshuffling inspectors but they are never touched. They are are not performing any longer due to being in their comfort zones.
*PRESIDENT Pohamba talks about information ad communications technology (ICT) all the time but his office’s website is the least up to date.
From the House
*WHAT is happening in our parliament? Where is the bill that bans smoking in public?
Law and Order
*PLEASE explain to me where ‘speed kills’ comes in when 95 per cent of all accidents are caused by people overtaking where they should not?
*WHERE can rude NaTIS officials be reported and will the necessary disciplinary actions be taken? Many of them are rude and ill disciplined towards the public, especially in Walvis Bay.
Education
*PLEASE help me! I’m a student at Unam and am confused by the exam timetable. First they informed me that I would write the exams on June 5 and 11. Yesterday they told me that I write on June 5 and 7. Which timetable must I follow? I want to put in for my study leave.
City Fathers
*CAN the municipality please take care of their open spaces for storm water between houses. Come and see the big trees and things that are dumped between 1230 and 1231 Liberty Island. I’m tired of calling your offices. Have been waiting since last year.
*MUNICIPALITY workers who mark the roads please take time to read the traffic book for you to put the correct markings on the road. Wrong road markings were put in Rocky Crest in Sando Road coming from lng Island. You must not put a broken white line for people to overtake where they cannot see what is behind the uphill. They must correct those mistakes before they take people’s lives.
Labour Issues
*NAMIBIAN Defence Force, when will the second intake of this year be?
*FISHERIES observers. Fishing companies pay N$18 000 per month to the agency but the observer only receives N$4 500. Who gets the rest? Is this not labour broking?
– Concerned.
*HOW many people are employed in engineering positions in Namibia and how many are registered with the Engineering Council of Namibia? Can somebody do an audit of all engineering firms, because company policies are changed on a regular basis.
*I WANT want to find out from the Minister of Labour what the purpose of labour hire companies (the middle man) is? What do they do that the main employer cannot. I have been working at (name of mine supplied) under a broker for two years and have noticed that labour hire companies are of no benefit to the employee, but are just there to protect the main employer. We have problems with both employer and the broker and don’t know where to take our grievances.
*NATIONAL Planning Commission why not by cheque? I don’t have a bank account and can’t open one.
In and From the Regions
*TO the company busy repairing the road between Gobabis and Windhoek. You are putting the top layer of tar on that road but you are not repairing the potholes first. This is a danger to drivers.
*THE D1504 road turning off the Rehoboth road just south of Windhoek is breaking up completely. The potholes have not been repaired since last year. When will the road be repaired? Some people have damaged their vehicles already. The contractor who does the repairs to the road south of Windhoek is not competent. Why is these people’s work not checked?
*I AM so disappointed to see that there are gambling machines in Tsumkwe. We, the people, are already suffering and these gambling machines will make it worse. Will the responsible person stop adding to the poverty.
*RESIDENTS of Epumbu village in Ongenga constituency are in need of a bridge from the main road to the village. We suffer a lot during the rainy season.
*IT seems that an estate agency is taking over Kuisebmond. Every-where you go you find them building houses. But when we poor people go to the municipality requesting land to build our houses, we are told there is no land. Which means only rich people will own houses in Kuisebmond. Diescho was right when he said Namibia is going to the dogs.
– Juju.
*OMUTHIYA town council please compensate people in accordance with the compensation policy document!
*MAYOR and Deputy of Walvis Bay why don’t you like certain people’s projects? We elected you and want development in the location not only in the central business district and Langstrand.
ACC Alert
*ANTI-Corruption Commission look what’s happening at Rehoboth. NamWater is going to cut off the water supply to the town just because of mismanagement, ineffectiveness, incompetentence, nepotism, favouritism and a lack of integrity on the side of the town council. They are there just for their own self-interest and self-enrichment.
Education
*DOES the Ministry of Education still have records for 1994/96 Grade 10 and 12 certificates?
*SHAME on you Namibia Training Authority. How can you tell trainees from all 10 vocational schools to come for graduation then at the last moment, when people are travelling, say graduation has been postponed. And you do not know until when and why.
*MINISTRY of Education please do something for the children from remote areas at Unam and the Polytech who have applied for loans for years now. Unam, at the last minute on May 29, informs students that they will not write June exams if they have not paid 50 per cent of fees. Even those who paid 60 peer cent will not allowed to write. What sort of hell is this for our children? Unam have mercy.
NBC
*NBC, what are you trying to teach the nation by discussing sex workers on ‘Good Morning Namibia’. Namibia is a Christian country and we want to maintain that. Please we do not want those types of discussion in our nation. Let’s discuss issues of national interest such as the approach to development in the nation at large.
Lost and Found
*ON Wednesday, May 30, when I was dropped off by taxi in Dolam near River Entertainment, I mistakenly took a passenger’s Pep plastic bag. If the lady happens to read this, I was wearing a pink Oshiwambo dress. Please contact me on: 060-805-6609.
*DANIEL Gabriel Jason (born27-09-1991) born at Ondaanya. I found your ID. Contact me at 081-476-4387.
*I SAKEUS Andumba have lost my ID and Medical Card. Please call 081-334-5156/081-124-5929.
*I ANASTASIA Black lost my ID. Iff found please call 081-142-4769.
*I GERVASIUS F Amadhila lost my Bank Windhoek card folder with my ID and other cards. If found please contact 081-312-8150.
*I PICKED up a South African passport that belongs to Andrew Young. Contact 081-284-0666.
*I FOUND a licence disc for registration/licence number N18133WB. Volkswagen sedan. Contact 081-258-8514 or 081-277-9897.
Responses to recent SMSes
*TO the ‘Concerned Parent’ who posted an SMS requesting the Office of the Prime Minister to establish a Disability Centre in the North could this person write a formal letter so that the Government can study the situation!
*I AGREE with the Food for Thought’ SMS in Thursday’s The Namibian. Yes, the carnage on our roads is unacceptable. But the problem is not with our traffic police. Until and unless motorists learn to respect the law and regulate their behaviour on the road the carnage will continue.
*SMS about a person with a driver’s licence without driving skills. I advise you to report the matter to any police office or at the Anti-Corruption Commission offices countrywide.
*REGARDING street lights in Rehoboth and elsewhere: we have two companies in Namibia who are producing solar street lamps. Please use them instead of imported lamps, which are also much more expensive to keep going. Namibian-made solar street lights create jobs and provide security through bright light at a very cheap rate.
*AN article that appeared in another daily newspaper stated that government has struggled for years to finish a railway line which the Germans completed in 10 months during 1910. What they failed to mention was that the Germans used slave labour. If papers want to make comparisons, they should state all facts and not mislead the nation.