SMSes for Tuesday 10 April 2012

SMS Of The Day
*TO claim that poverty has declined is an insult to the poor in our country

Food for Thought*IT’S a fact! All activities where our fellow brothers get involved turn out to be a menace and chaos. Look at the taxi industry, squatters, open markets, transport, shebeens – you name it! The worst is that nobody is prepared to call them to order…Bouquets and Brickbats*I WAS so happy to hear the police officers at Oshivelo police station speaking English and most of them were Oshiwambo speaking. It makes me proud, the stations in the North should take this example.*CONGRATS to Fortune from Windhoek for representing Namibia on Master Chef SA. You are such a good chef. How can I join too?*TO be fair the Swapo Party administration has significantly improved since Comrade Pendukeni Ithana became Secretary General. If she was full-time, it would even be better. Thumbs up!*JUST a big, big thank you to the City of Windhoek for acting on our petition and putting up the traffic lights at the Robin Road and Hendrik Witbooi intersection! – Tauben Glen residents*I LOVE Severius Majiedt’s column in The Weekender. It’s hysterical.*SEVERIUS’ column had me in stitches… Brilliant.- Dawn Humphries*I SALUTE the Ohangwena Regional Education Director Sanet Steenkamp for the good work and great answer she gave to the press! You are a hard-working director. Tell your fellow Namibians in your region that not all of us are interested in politics, we have a nation to build!*WHY is it that some of the dailies do not want to give The Namibian newspaper recognition for hosting the 13th annual Newspaper Cup? They refer to this event as ‘The Newspaper Cup’ and not ‘The Namibian Newspaper Cup’. Give recognition where it is due.*ONDANGWA Town Council it is the Easter weekend. We planned to wash our clothes, clean our houses, have friends over for lunch. Why haven’t we had water since the holiday started?*MANY music videos being aired on local TV promote alcohol and sexual innuendo. They are repeated continuously. This is not what we are trying to teach our youth.Taxi Talk*THE untouchables: so much has been done to create safe pick up spots for all concerned – the travellers/taxi driver and the other road users. But like spoilt children the taxi driver stops wherever and whenever he wants to pick up or drop off. Are they really out of the reach of the law? Hit all offenders where it hurts – fine the passenger N$50 for standing in the wrong place and the taxi driver N$100 for stopping. This must be on a spot fine or immediate lock up basis- Fed-up road userLaw and Order*WHY is the government and the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund wasting so much money on advertising safety campaigns, road blocks and extra manpower if nobody intends to listen? Travelling through our country for a week I didn’t see one car sticking to the speed limit on tar or gravel. Only heavy fines will help. Police should buy cameras that also get the speed on the photos and a nice picture of the driver. Anything to stop the death toll on our roads. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen by reasoning, good intensions or handing out smilies.*LEAVING Windhoek for the North on Easter Thursday afternoon, NamPol decide to man the roadblock resulting in a 2km tailback of traffic taking 25 minutes to get through. Now more people will be driving in the dark. Who is the manager responsible for exposing people to such risks?- P Muller*NAMIBIAN Police are you aware of Namibian women marrying Chinese men for them to get Namibian citizenship and the women getting paid N$500 every month in return? Namibian police please investigate.*THE Ministry of Safety and Security has not considered the residents within Okongo district with much respect as this district is only served by one police vehicle. Criminal activities are going on, stock-theft is increasing but officers are unable to control or arrest these thieves. Please Ohangwena residents, even the governor, be on alert there are people who are trying to let us down. – Kambwa.* I THINK head/earphones should be outlawed in this country. It’s amazing or pretty stupid how people can cross or walk on roads with full volume without hearing or looking at approaching vehicles. I cannot recall how many times I have warned or hooted at pedestrians. People please make it easier for us drivers and stop blaming drivers alone.Business as Usual*THE Namibia Airports Company board must be the biggest joke of the century. Please tell us it was an April Fool’s story of the village, because it can’t be real. If it is real then only God can help Namibia.*THE Namibia Airports Company is now dead. No company, no structure, no budget, no department of operation and engineering – the core department. All projects are placed on hold. Maintenance and other airport services are badly affected. The government must intervene immediately.*IT is becoming normal practice for parastatals and government agencies to be run down by personalities while we as taxpayers just look on. This is visible from the way the Namibia Airports Company is throwing around millions without any consideration. Isn’t there a way that we, as the public, can be empowered to have a say in the election of board members for public institutions? We are tired of our money being squandered in this country by individuals while thousands suffer!- JN*THE story about Ms Katonyola and the Namibia Airports Company sends shivers down the spine. Namibians we are getting used to this sort of thing and be sure that nothing will happen to this young lady and her troops. This is a disgrace of the highest proportions. Please someone save our country.City Fathers*IT is 22h30 Namibian time on Tuesday evening and I am trying to sleep! NMC construction is building a parking lot next to the hospital at this time of night! Big trucks are going up and down the road and men are shouting. Do they have permission to do this? What about municipal by-laws? What about the residents who have to go to work tomorrow? This is outrageous! Please City of Windhoek look after the rights of your ratepayers. We pay your salaries and this is unacceptable! – SGA Boltt, Eros Park.*SAM Nujoma Avenue over the hill between Klein Windhoek and Windhoek High School remains almost impassable for pedestrians – due to grass and the lack of proper pavements. Whereas most other sidewalks in Windhoek, far less used by pedestrians I might add, have been cleared of grass by now this avenue still has not. How long must we still wait?*WINDHOEKERS must really now stand together to address the sorry state of our once beautiful city. You may say that at least the grass on the sidewalks is being cut; but the cut grass is not removed nor the grass growing between the pavers and in the street. Every good engineer will tell you that that is how the break-up of the tarmac begins. And where are the once luxuriant flowerbeds surrounding the municipal buildings? More and more people are complaining about the parks and play areas. Someone is clearly not doing his or her job. Education*MINISTRY please visit the regional office in the Kavango Region. The HR officers are not doing their work. Schools are still without secretaries and those posts were applied for last year, but we’re still waiting.*TEENAGE pregnancy is a big concern at the Hearing Impaired School in Windhoek. Ministry please intervene these girls are deaf.*NAMCOL please extend the registration period for the final exams until the 20th. Do it for the learners that still haven’t paid please.- ParentLabour Issues*PLEASE help me, I work in a shop. My boss told my supervisor to give me hard work. I never finish the work because the time is too short. Now they give me warnings. What can I do now? Please help me!ACC Alert*I WANT to ask how some foreigners work in the country without work permits? Please Anti-Corruption Commission investigate this. There is a lot of corruption around immigration.
NBC*THANK you NBC for your medical corner with Dr Shaun Whittaker on ‘Good Morning Namibia’. It is really informing and educating the nation. I recently watched when you discussed schizophrenia, the mental disorder that causes people to hear voices talking to them even telling them to kill themselves, seeing things when they are sleeping (hallucinations) and losing touch with reality, which I believe is so common in our society. Many people, if not all, believe that they are bewitched or witchcraft is at work while it is just a disease that can be treated by a psychiatric doctor. Please talk about it again and again to inform, educate and help the nation.In and From the Regions*THE Tsumeb-Tsintsabis road is only six months old but is already full of patches. This road is a time bomb.*NDAMA south of the tar road has grown so big. Services like water and electricity are needed there. Rundu chief executive officer please make sure this is done.*MARIENTAL Roads Authority and Namibian traffic management please change your pedestrian crossing lines to four-way stop signs for them to make reasonable sense to both drivers and pedestrians in Hendrick Witbooi Avenue.- MwaziLost and Found*SHIPEPE Naemi Ndeuhepela (born 1984-12-03) I found your ID. Please contact me at 081-397-3654.*MY name is Johannes E Iiyambo. I lost my ID. Please if found call or SMS 081-498-9604. Thanks.*AN ID for Elentrus Tinus Wybrand Nanub was handed in at The Namibian. Please ask for Yvonne English at editorial reception.Service Please*WHAT happened to customer service at FNB Katutura? Front line staff there are rude. Where are all the friendly people who used to work there? I eventually met someone who truly represents the real FNB. Thank you very much for the good and friendly service from the young manager’s assistant/credit consultant. Keep up that smile and always being so willing to help.
*I AM very disappointed with NamPost, Katutura (Red Cross Centre). They issued me with a post box which belongs to someone else. Let alone I paid the renewal fees. Now my mail is getting lost.*THIS is not service MTC! I have been sitting in your BPI house for 45 minutes and there is no one at data setting. How could this be called service? Please we pay you!Sporting*POOR attendance and reporting of national school athletics of 2012. I was surprised to see how empty the Independence Stadium was when the children from different regions were competing. Those who claim to hold the interests of the youth in their hearts were nowhere to be seen. This event was also poorly covered by the media. How do we encourage youngsters to pursue athletics internationally? What is the Ministry of Youth and Sport doing to ensure proper advertisement of the event? *IT will be an absolutely phenomenal achievement by Black Africa if they complete this league unbeaten. But this achievement will be not an easy one. There are other teams who are all out to improve their log standing and cash-box. It’s also time for BA to test their strength against the best in Africa. Then we will be able to evaluate our strength at club level. Blue Waters has done it and commands respect and admiration at home and abroad despite limited financial backing.- SethoResponses to recent SMSes*I AGREE with the SMS that says that we Namibians complain too much! However I am happy that our democracy gives us that power to complain. In some countries people are scared to talk, let alone complain the way we do! Viva Namibia*THE members of parliament must be our role models in good behaviour and being responsible. What are they telling us or building for our country if they do not listen to each other? Can’t anything be done about this?

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