PRESIDENT Hage Geingob was all praise for the new Namibia Defence Force (NDF)Air Force headquarters at Karibib on Friday, saying Namibia can be proud of its military development to ensure the safeguarding of peace and stability in the country.
Geingob made a series of visits to military installations across Namibia last week. He is also expected to make a turn at the naval base at Walvis Bay this week.
Besides inspecting the facility situated about 15 kilometres north of Karibib on the road to Omaruru, the President was also treated to a demonstration of fighter jet formation flypasts and a military rescue exercise.
In a very short speech, Geingob encouraged the soldiers at the base to be proud of their service, and to view the importance of what they do to protect the people of Namibia.
He promised that government would do all it can to ensure that most of the military needs are met, but added that ‘we cannot get everything you need’ because of other demands from other sectors such as education, health, social services and land.
As with his speech to the National Youth Service parade at Henties Bay the previous day, Geingob warned that Namibia should guard its peace against elements who want to destabilise the country.
The air force base at Karibib is officially the NDF airforce headquarters, although it is not yet complete.
The defence ministry’s spokes- person, Lieutenant Colonel Monica Sheya said construction of the base started in 2006, and it is currently in its fourth phase; but she was not wishing to say how many phases there still must be, nor what the cost of the development is. According to her, it has not been officially inaugurated yet.
As part of the Air Force’s duty and responsibility to safeguard the airspace over every corner of Namibia, the need was created for the Karibib base.
All The Namibian could learn was that China Jiangsu International was involved in the construction of the facility.
An entry into the Government Gazette dated 27 October 2006 also indicated the construction of ‘concrete aprons at the parking area of the runway’. Other infrastructure for the other phases included five buildings comprising accommodation units, offices and warehouses.
According to the report of the au- ditor general on the accounts of the Ministry of Defence for the financial year ended 31 March 2008, the ap- proved total budget for the Karibib airwing was N$63 million then. The total expenditure for the project was about N$39,5 million for the 2007/2008 financial year.
According to sources, the number of phases depends on the budget al- locations.
