Quiet weekend at coast

ERONGO Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner Andrew Iiyambo, says people who attended the double celebration at the coast at the weekend behaved very well.

“The people really behaved well,” said the Deputy Commissioner who had earlier asked the public to co-operate and ensure a pleasant weekend of festivities. Thousands of people flocked to the Kuisebmund stadium on Sunday for the main programme at which President Sam Nujoma delivered the keynote speech to mark Namibia’s 14th year of Independence and the 10th anniversary of the re-integration of Walvis Bay into Namibia.Rino Muranda of the Walvis Bay Municipality, who was also one of the organisers of the programme, told The Namibian on Tuesday that they estimated that overall about 20 000 people attended Sunday’s events.Iiyambo said there was near commotion at the stadium on Sunday when the gates were closed to the public after the arrival of the dignitaries.”People were still trying to come in,” he said, adding that the stadium was not big enough for such a large crowd.”It is fine for soccer matches, but not for this kind of celebration.”According to Muranda the newly-built Kuisebmund beach, where about 10 000 people attended a music concert held on Saturday night, was also spared by vandals.The facility came under attack from vandals over the December holiday, shortly after it was opened.This weekend no serious damage was caused.Muranda attributed this to effective security measures.He said the place was guarded by security officers from last Wednesday.The Deputy Commissioner said he had approximately 400 Police officers on duty over the weekend.Extra officers were brought in from Police Stations in the Erongo Region.”Everything went smoothly – no incidents, no unruly behaviour,” said Muranda.No other serious crime cases were reported to the Walvis Bay Police during the weekend.Thousands of people flocked to the Kuisebmund stadium on Sunday for the main programme at which President Sam Nujoma delivered the keynote speech to mark Namibia’s 14th year of Independence and the 10th anniversary of the re-integration of Walvis Bay into Namibia.Rino Muranda of the Walvis Bay Municipality, who was also one of the organisers of the programme, told The Namibian on Tuesday that they estimated that overall about 20 000 people attended Sunday’s events.Iiyambo said there was near commotion at the stadium on Sunday when the gates were closed to the public after the arrival of the dignitaries.”People were still trying to come in,” he said, adding that the stadium was not big enough for such a large crowd.”It is fine for soccer matches, but not for this kind of celebration.”According to Muranda the newly-built Kuisebmund beach, where about 10 000 people attended a music concert held on Saturday night, was also spared by vandals.The facility came under attack from vandals over the December holiday, shortly after it was opened.This weekend no serious damage was caused.Muranda attributed this to effective security measures.He said the place was guarded by security officers from last Wednesday.The Deputy Commissioner said he had approximately 400 Police officers on duty over the weekend.Extra officers were brought in from Police Stations in the Erongo Region.”Everything went smoothly – no incidents, no unruly behaviour,” said Muranda.No other serious crime cases were reported to the Walvis Bay Police during the weekend.