Keetmanshoop wants Govt bailout

THE debt-ridden Keetmanshoop Town Council has appealed for a Government bailout to pay the almost N$1 million it owes NamWater.

This emerged during a meeting a visiting Parliamentary delegation had with local authority and church leaders at the town on Saturday. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, who headed the delegation, confirmed this in an interview with The Namibian.Gurirab said the council informed him that it had inherited outstanding debts of N$4 million from its predecessor.He said the council pleaded with its line ministry – the Ministry of Regional and Local Government – to help it settle the NamWater bill.Keetmanshoop has to pay in advance for its bulk water supply because of earlier problems with paying its water bill.Gurirab, accompanied by parliamentarians Ida Hoffmann, Hansina Christiaan and Elma Dienda, has been visiting the Karas Region since Thursday.They have met local leaders at Karasburg, Tses, Aus, Luederitz, Gruenau and Keetmanshoop.Gurirab said the delegation heard about pressing concerns facing the region such as poverty, unemployment, some ethnic tensions, water scarcity, land reform and lack of reliable communication channels.He urged local and regional leaders to improve communication with their communities.”Lack of communication channels makes the people that much poorer,” he said.He said the delegation would compile a report on what it had learned during the trip and forward it to Prime Minister Nahas Angula.The Speaker of the National Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab, who headed the delegation, confirmed this in an interview with The Namibian.Gurirab said the council informed him that it had inherited outstanding debts of N$4 million from its predecessor.He said the council pleaded with its line ministry – the Ministry of Regional and Local Government – to help it settle the NamWater bill.Keetmanshoop has to pay in advance for its bulk water supply because of earlier problems with paying its water bill.Gurirab, accompanied by parliamentarians Ida Hoffmann, Hansina Christiaan and Elma Dienda, has been visiting the Karas Region since Thursday.They have met local leaders at Karasburg, Tses, Aus, Luederitz, Gruenau and Keetmanshoop.Gurirab said the delegation heard about pressing concerns facing the region such as poverty, unemployment, some ethnic tensions, water scarcity, land reform and lack of reliable communication channels.He urged local and regional leaders to improve communication with their communities.”Lack of communication channels makes the people that much poorer,” he said.He said the delegation would compile a report on what it had learned during the trip and forward it to Prime Minister Nahas Angula.