Nossob eyes April starting date for Arandis factory

THE company responsible for building a pre-paid water meter factory at Arandis has denied rumours that the project has been withdrawn.

Residents of the former mining town raised concerns when building of the factory, which was commissioned in July 2002, ground to a halt. “We believe the company has withdrawn from our town,” said a concerned community leader.The CEO of Nossob River Systems, Mac Hengari, told The Namibian the factory would be operational by April.He said completion of the building had been hampered by two “red tape” delays.”We have already spent more than half a million Namibian dollars on the steel structure of the factory and are anxious to get it going”.He said his company had a big tender to provide pre-paid meters to a municipality, covering 1,2 million people, in South Africa .To speed up the process, a delegation of Hengari, the Erongo Governor, and Mayor and Town Clerk of Arandis met with President Sam Nujoma at the coast recently.The first problem causing the delay relates to land that has not yet been transferred from Government to Nossob.This was preventing the company from taking out a bond from a financial institution to finance the project.The second problem is the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing’s slowness in approving the agreement between Nossob and the Arandis Town Council, Hengari said “The President gave his commitment to expedite the process on Government’s part,” said Hengari.He was confident the factory would be operational by April and employing about 90 people.A further 30 trainees from the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT), also based at Arandis, will work at the factory.Hengari said his company had sent 12 employees on a training programme to South Africa for a year.”They are back in Arandis at the assembly plant and will form our core group once the factory is operational,” he said.There are about 20 people working at the Arandis assembly plant at the moment.Once in operation, Nossob will be the only company in Namibia manufacturing pre-paid meters.In 2002 Arandis became the first town in the country to be completely dependent on pre-paid water.Each of the 1 000 houses at the town were fitted with a pre-paid water meter.Work is a scarce commodity for the town’s 7 000 residents.The downscaling of operations at the Rossing mine next door, the biggest employer of residents, has led to large numbers of employees and contractors being retrenched over the years.”We believe the company has withdrawn from our town,” said a concerned community leader. The CEO of Nossob River Systems, Mac Hengari, told The Namibian the factory would be operational by April. He said completion of the building had been hampered by two “red tape” delays. “We have already spent more than half a million Namibian dollars on the steel structure of the factory and are anxious to get it going”. He said his company had a big tender to provide pre-paid meters to a municipality, covering 1,2 million people, in South Africa . To speed up the process, a delegation of Hengari, the Erongo Governor, and Mayor and Town Clerk of Arandis met with President Sam Nujoma at the coast recently. The first problem causing the delay relates to land that has not yet been transferred from Government to Nossob. This was preventing the company from taking out a bond from a financial institution to finance the project. The second problem is the Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing’s slowness in approving the agreement between Nossob and the Arandis Town Council, Hengari said “The President gave his commitment to expedite the process on Government’s part,” said Hengari. He was confident the factory would be operational by April and employing about 90 people. A further 30 trainees from the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT), also based at Arandis, will work at the factory. Hengari said his company had sent 12 employees on a training programme to South Africa for a year. “They are back in Arandis at the assembly plant and will form our core group once the factory is operational,” he said. There are about 20 people working at the Arandis assembly plant at the moment. Once in operation, Nossob will be the only company in Namibia manufacturing pre-paid meters. In 2002 Arandis became the first town in the country to be completely dependent on pre-paid water. Each of the 1 000 houses at the town were fitted with a pre-paid water meter. Work is a scarce commodity for the town’s 7 000 residents. The downscaling of operations at the Rossing mine next door, the biggest employer of residents, has led to large numbers of employees and contractors being retrenched over the years.