A NAVAL base and a jetty were commissioned by defence minister Penda Ya Ndakolo at Impalila Island in the Zambezi region.
The base, known as the Naval Base Impalila was inaugurated on Friday.
Ya Ndakolo explained that the base was a naval base for the South African Defence Force before Namibia’s independence and was thereafter used by the Impalila community as a secondary school until 2012.
In August 2014, the defence ministry started rehabilitating the base and completed it in October 2017 while work on the jetty started in April 2016 until October 2017, he said.
The minister said before the rehabilitation, there were many security challenges such as illegal border crossing, unregulated fishing, poaching, theft and drug smuggling at the island.
This had triggered the Namibian navy to establish a naval district covering Zambezi, Chobe and Okavango rivers.
“It is against this background that this base and its supporting facilities were constructed,” the minister added.
He said since the navy was deployed and started patrolling the area, the security challenges had gone down.
“The navy conducted individual and joint operations with the Namibian Police Force, Impalila Conservancy Authority, local community, Botswana Defence Force and police. These operations reduced the threat of crime in the area and made the local community safer,” Ya Ndakolo boasted.
He continued that the improved security further created a favourable environment for cooperation between neighbours Namibia, Zambia and Botswana.
The new base consists of accommodation facilities, a sewage treatment plant, an electricity plant, and a floating jetty for docking with a slipway for launching and removing boats from the water.
Commander Christian Keendjele was commissioned as the first commanding officer of the NBI.
– Nampa
