Lease of Von Bach Dam brings NWR revenue

THE controversial lease agreement between the State-owned company Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) and a black economic empowerment company would generate N$120 000 a year, Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told Parliament last week.

‘The agreement with Tungeni Africa Investments for the 50-year lease already generated N$3 million in signing fees (last year) and will bring a monthly rent of N$10 000 per month or N$120 000 per annum,’ the Minister replied to a question put by CoD Member Tsudao Gurirab.According to the lease agreement with Tungeni, NWR will receive ‘ten per cent of the monthly gross turnover’, once the resort is revamped and up and running. Estimates are that the income from the gross turnover could be around N$250 000 a year as opposed to the annual losses of NWR was making, the Minister said. According to the deal with Tungeni, no State assets may be alienated, the contracted company must take over the existing staff under the same conditions of employment or improve on them. Asked by Gurirab about the cost of refurbishing the Ai-Ais resort in the Fish River in southern Namibia, the Minister confirmed that the cost had escalated to N$34 million, including VAT, but had originally been estimated at N$21,5 million.NWR is responsible for the resort and funding its refurbishment. The Namibian recently carried a front-page story about the renovation costs, which had nearly doubled, since the NWR did not deem it fit to appoint a supervising consultant to monitor the revamping exercise. This resulted in the contractors being behind schedule, which also added to the escalated costs.