More jobs needed in the rural areas

MORE development projects are needed in rural areas to create jobs and prevent young people flocking to towns, a Swapo MP said in the National Council yesterday.

Ferdinand Kavetuna said many young people were flocking to towns because there were no jobs in their rural areas. He said when people failed to get jobs in town, they sometimes became criminals, drug users, drunkards and prostitutes.”If development is decentralised, most people will not move from where they are,” said Kavetuna.He was speaking during debate on the first reading of the 2006-2007 National Budget, currently under scrutiny in the National Council.Another Swapo MP, Theo Diergaardt, said although Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila billed the Budget as pro-poor and pro-growth, some regions were allocated less than others.Diergaardt wanted to know from the Ministry which criteria it used in resources allocation.He said an ongoing project to replace the bucket-toilet system in his Rehoboth West Urban constituency did not receive anything from the new Budget.”We are told we should wait,” said Diergaardt.Swapo’s Leevi Katoma from the Omusati Region said he would like to see the N$5 billion earmarked for infrastructure development used to upgrade the NBC television network, which provided poor reception in most rural areas.Katoma said the Namibian Police should also get a reasonable share from the Budget to improve their transport problems and upgrade Police cells.He said when people failed to get jobs in town, they sometimes became criminals, drug users, drunkards and prostitutes.”If development is decentralised, most people will not move from where they are,” said Kavetuna.He was speaking during debate on the first reading of the 2006-2007 National Budget, currently under scrutiny in the National Council.Another Swapo MP, Theo Diergaardt, said although Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila billed the Budget as pro-poor and pro-growth, some regions were allocated less than others.Diergaardt wanted to know from the Ministry which criteria it used in resources allocation.He said an ongoing project to replace the bucket-toilet system in his Rehoboth West Urban constituency did not receive anything from the new Budget.”We are told we should wait,” said Diergaardt.Swapo’s Leevi Katoma from the Omusati Region said he would like to see the N$5 billion earmarked for infrastructure development used to upgrade the NBC television network, which provided poor reception in most rural areas.Katoma said the Namibian Police should also get a reasonable share from the Budget to improve their transport problems and upgrade Police cells.