Rotten rice case at Mariental ‘not new’

THE Chief Regional Officer of Hardap, James Sankwasa, has lashed out at an NBC news report over what it has called a new discovery of rotten food aid at Mariental.

“The NBC has misled the nation,” Sankwasa said yesterday. The national broadcaster’s television news bulletin on Sunday night stated that 500 50-kg bags of rice worth N$20 000 had been left to rot in a warehouse for close to four years.Sankwasa responded that the spoilt rice had been found in a Ministry of Fisheries warehouse at Mariental in January last year following a report in The Namibian.He blamed delays in the distribution of the food aid by the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) for the rotting of the rice.According to Sankwasa, the Hardap Regional Council was still waiting for instructions from EMU on how to dispose of the food.”We’ve reported the matter of the rotten drought relief aid to EMU, but are still waiting for them to issue a disposal certificate,” he said.The acting Director of the Regional Emergency Management Unit (Remu), Francis Kooper, declined to comment on the matter yesterday.He said the Director of Remu, who had handled the correspondence on the matter, was out of the country.”I first need to get hold of this correspondence in order to comment,” he said.The national broadcaster’s television news bulletin on Sunday night stated that 500 50-kg bags of rice worth N$20 000 had been left to rot in a warehouse for close to four years.Sankwasa responded that the spoilt rice had been found in a Ministry of Fisheries warehouse at Mariental in January last year following a report in The Namibian.He blamed delays in the distribution of the food aid by the Emergency Management Unit (EMU) for the rotting of the rice.According to Sankwasa, the Hardap Regional Council was still waiting for instructions from EMU on how to dispose of the food.”We’ve reported the matter of the rotten drought relief aid to EMU, but are still waiting for them to issue a disposal certificate,” he said.The acting Director of the Regional Emergency Management Unit (Remu), Francis Kooper, declined to comment on the matter yesterday.He said the Director of Remu, who had handled the correspondence on the matter, was out of the country.”I first need to get hold of this correspondence in order to comment,” he said.