SMSes for Monday 19 March 2012
SMS Of The Day *WAKE up fellow Namibians! How ‘conducive’ must the environment be for parliamentarians to be productive? Why a new building when they are already so comfortable that they fall asleep? We can’t provide for the poor and vulnerable but we can afford more comfort for them! Where’s the logic?
Food for Thought
*PLEASE let us respect one another’s cultures and not spoil them.The Oshiwambo dresses or odelela or colours are never to be displayed at death or funeral occasions. The onyoka around the woman means something too and not a just a decoration. And I wonder whether it is even right to put on our cultural colours at political events?
*NAMIBIA as a country, and its resources belongs, to us all and must benefit all of us and not a select few. Namibia does not belong to any political party, grouping etc. The direction Namibia takes must be our collective responsibility. We have a duty to ensure that whatever we do is to the benefit of us all. A good starting point would be to ensure that those we choose to manage our country are chosen purely on ability, skill, integrity etc and are held accountable to us. Nobody need go to the rubbish dump for a ‘daily meal’ in a country of 2 million unless something is seriously wrong with us all.
Bouquets and Brickbats
*I SALUTE ‘Happy 22nd Anniversary President Pohamba’ by Pashu Shuudi in The Namibian, March 16 page 13. Brother I like it. This is the truth. Look at the N$ 550 for hungry pensioners while millions are spent on customised aeroplanes. We are tired!
*RIP off? The Namibian reported that two Asian companies signed contracts to build 183 km of roads for N$1.14 billion amounting to N$6.2 million per km! Earlier it was reported that the rehabilitation of the tarred road to the manganese mine costs some N$3 m per km and the construction of the Omuthiya to Onanke gravel road some N$1.2 m per km - both roads built by Namibian companies I presume. Can't anyone in government do the math? Who'll be held accountable for this deal?
*THE Envirofocus article in Thursday’s paper on Green Schemes was spot on! Why no environmental impact assessment (EIA) by government? Many are well informed on conservation agriculture, please heed their advice !
Politics
*I HUMBLY request our intellectual opinion contributors, youth leaders and students to start contributing on economic development, poverty eradication and self empowerment and to leave the politics of the struggle and history to the politicians. People are moving forward while we are stuck in the past.
*DR Ngarikutuke Tjiriange I don’t agree with you when you said that Plan, Fapla and Cuban troops defeated the apartheid troops. Peace was brought by means of the Resolution 435 agreement.
*AS a student of politics in the 80’s I was told that going back home and at independence I’ll be bombarded with ‘the struggle’, ‘heroes’ monuments, history, nepotism and loyalty. It’s true. Even North Korea, Vietnam, China and Angola are now heavily into economic development instead of Cold War sloganeering.
*THE replacement of the image of Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi with the image of the Founding Father is a big political mistake and disrespect shown to the contribution of Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi.
NBC
*NBC you expect us to pay TV licences but you can’t even broadcast our independence celebration live. You talk about fighting poverty by not broadcasting the event live, but you don’t realise that broadcasting it will actually give people hope again. You say N$400 000 is too much for one event, well I say N$400 000 as an income for you Director General per year is too much. You claim you want to help fight poverty ... what exactly has the NBC done to help poverty to date? Suggestion: start by cutting your salaries and buy equipment for events like these.
*MR Director General of our national broadcaster you must also play your part. We Namibians/TV licence holders do not accept your ‘unilateral’ decision not to do a live broadcast of our Independence Day celebrations on the public holiday! We want it; we deserve it; we have paid you for it! Sorry, not negotiable! Just do it. No excuses, otherwise it's a national disgrace!
– Paid up viewer/OAP/ex civil servant.
*N$400 000 for an event? And we expect NBC not to go bankrupt considering other events that need/might be broadcast for example, Namas, soccer, BBA. Is it because of the N$108 million budget allocation?
– Miss Otavi
*IS it a final decision Minister Kaapanda that NBC does not want the nation to celebrate together the 22nd independence anniversary by deciding not to broadcast the event live? If they do not do it, then there will not be an event that will warrant a live broadcast.
*NBC always has problems. Don't they know that Independence Day is very important to us. Please fire Aochamub if they don’t broadcast the most important day of Namibia’s history.
*THIS is unacceptable. NBC is always one-sided only broadcasting Swapo rallies and issues but we’re forced to pay licence fees. Why?
*NBC some of us are not watching NBC at all because of your programmes. Remove your channel from our TVs and get decoders for those who like to watch NBC.
*THE Finance Minister, Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, has allocated N$108 million to NBC in the national budget for 2012/2013 but why trouble the poor Namibians for a TV licence! I’m a security guard and my salary is N$600 and my small TV is from a Chinese shop. I don’t have money to pay you NBC.
*THE best solution to the NBC problem is to privatise it. We might even have balanced reporting and it will be more accessible to all.
General
*I HAVE nothing against Namibia helping neighbouring countries with food aid and other items valued at N$2 million to Congo but shouldn’t we start helping our own people first?Does Kupferberg dump site ring a bell? Oh and the floods in the North around the corner.
City Fathers
*ARE municipality buses above the law? When they stop at Hidas Centre they block the traffic until the line is through the robots. All traffic must halt. There was enough space for the driver to move forward but he ignored the hooting of many cars. This was not the first time. Stood there for more than five minutes. Traffic rules should also apply to these buses please.
Law and Order
*POLICE officers all over the country are issuing fines and tickets but cannot provide us with banking details for online payment. They are jeopardising the economy through this manual method with long queues. They are also creating loopholes for corruption. We should be able to pay fines at any police station in the country or use online banking. Technology saves time, boosts the economy and is environmentally friendly. Don’t wait, implement it now.
– FT
*CHIEF Inspector Kanime it is Saturday midnight (00h39) in Wanaheda, a shebeen has been playing music loud all evening. Police cars are passing and not doing anything to close the shebeen or to reduce the noise after midnight. City Police please keep order to enable us to sleep!
Education
*THE Ministry of Education must do something about recruitment of relief teachers otherwise the education of our kids is in danger. How is it possible the learners are left unattended for three months since the specific teacher is on maternity leave? The ministry must go back to the recruitment of Grade 12 school leavers, if there is no solution.
In and From the Regions
*WHY on earth is Ondangwa Town Council issuing tenders for the construction of new roads in new extension areas when it is incapable of maintaining existing roads? Ondangwa town is falling apart. It is slowly but surely looking more like an archeological remnant from the past rather than a town in the present!
*LÜDERITZ Town Council chief executive officer the town is over 100 years old and it has no pavements and tarred roads in the suburb. On entering the town you see dirty government houses and dirt roads without proper sidewalks. Please take note that everybody in Lüderitz pays taxes, so do something.
ACC Alert
*CAN the Anti-Corruption Commission investigate why there are so many staff members of the same family working at the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund?
*SYNONYMS: 'corruption, kickbacks, facilitator, gomtja, theft, stealing’. ACC am I right? If so, what's the sanction of each?
Sporting
*NAMBIA wants to host the Africa Cup of Nations but the construction of our soccer fields is not up to standard. People sit in the sun and rain. How much did you budget for soccer this year Minister of Finance?
Labour Issues
*COMRADE Kaaronda and your group please tell us workers what is happening at Labour Investment Holdings? Why are you so quiet? Is it not corruption? It’s our money as workers.
*WE are unhappy workers of the Rehoboth Town Council. Our policies are lapsing and expiring although the town council deducted money on our payslips to pay them but did not do so. We want the town council to refund our money.
*TO the government of Namibia. Is it possible for one person to hold two positions in the same ministry?