SMSes of the Day : Monday

* I ABSOLUTELY agree with a reader’s comment in your Friday edition. This Government can’t even run a farm, never mind a hospital. How on earth is it going to run a nuclear power station? This country is blessed with an abundance of natural and safer alternatives. Let’s be sensible just this once and stop saying and doing foolish things.

* NOW we have intolerance and Bantustan politics? Don’t cut the weed yet, you might damage the wheat! Wait until the election to put everything at the threshing floor where we can separate the good from the bad and put an end to the self-aggrandising ambitions of divide and rule. Food for thought* NAPWU-NANTU claimed that they are carrying out the mandate of their members who are civil servants. How does one represent someone if you do not consult with that person? Can the union show the civil servants the mandate or agreement for negotiating with the Government the 18 per cent over three years or the five per cent. Your members are paying your salaries, so you should take instructions from them, not just deciding what to do. Are you guys conversant with economics and the implications of interest rates? All members should cancel their monthly contributions to Napwu-Nantu, period. – Kgalemang* MINISTER of Fisheries, Dr Abraham Iyambo, how much longer will you allow employees to work without benefits on board your research vessels? Is that allowed to happen in your Ministry? Do something fast to change the situation. Why can’t you instruct the tendering company to give employees benefits? This is a seven-million-dollar tender of Government money we are talking about. If the Minister has not read this, someone please tell him. – Concerned employees.Thank you* CREDIT must be given where it is due. Not all Home Affairs staff are bad people. Thumbs up to Ben Migel of Home Affairs Southern Industrial. I had a tight schedule on Wednesday and at the same time I had to go pick up my new ID. Ben was very willing to listen to my problem and it took me two minutes to get my ID. Please Ben, keep it up. You’re a good example to your fellow colleagues and we need more Bens in the public and private sector! – Loide* ‘INTERVIEW with a canine’ – nice one Dom, I really enjoyed it. Keep it coming. – FanRamatex closure* ALL the investors in Namibia should have clear-cut preconditions under which their economic operations should be carried out. There is no doubt that Ramatex underestimated or even disregarded the constitutional powers vested in the Government by the people of this country. Such investors must be punished with all the constitutional instruments in place to safeguard the people of Namibia. Act now.* LET’S string them all up, Ramatex crooks and their local political friends, cut our losses, and get Nangolo Mbumba (Minister of Education) to transform the empty factories into more schools! * LET Ramatex go. Let’s clean up the waste and turn the property into low-cost housing for Namibia’s poor. After all, if the Government could subsidise Ramatex with taxpayer money, we can take care of our own people.* THE media, (trade) unions and the nation at large have been crying to Government to think twice before it spent money on the Ramatex. The same continue to cry about the Chinese in the country. Maybe they will open their eyes if they hear Chinese running for elections. Let’s wait and see.* THE Ramatex workforce who were left in cold are the most vulnerable portion of our society. They vote in every election to at least retain job security. When 3 000 workers arrive at their workplace to take up their duties and find out the reality of denial by their own Government, who is to be blamed for anarchy and discontent in our beloved country? – Tsaes.* PLEASE fellow Namibians, let the interest of Namibia be a priority before the interest of any political party. Swapo was warned about Ramatex and today the Prime Minister is crying that Ramatex is not keeping its promise. Swapo is not losing in the Ramatex issue, but Namibia is.Politics in general* ALL Swapo and RDP members should stop criticising each other, because it takes us nowhere. Criticising will only lead to divisions and civil war, which is easy to start but difficult to stop.* THE South should stop falling for empty promises from Swapo. They just want our vote after that you are nothing! Look at your livestock losses – did you get any assistance? NO! – RM* PEOPLE like Jerry Ekandjo are the ones failing the nation. Just look at the Ministry he is heading. It has failed to address the issue of land. No wonder Swapo is now Shawapo, meaning it has fallen. No more constructive ideas are coming from the likes of Jerry Ekandjo.* THE local authority councillor for Keetmanshoop, Basil Brown, is fighting his own Swapo colleagues who voted for him, what a shame. It is high time for the Swapo Party to take drastic steps against the councillor. What he is doing is pure treason against the Swapo Party.* SWAPO supporters always refer to RDP leaders as ‘a bunch of frustrated individuals’. Fair enough, but was it not frustration with apartheid and colonialism that prompted the formation of Swapo in the first place? So if frustration could cause the formation of Swapo the same can lead to the formation of other political parties. – Penda, Ondangwa* WHEN it comes to elections, Swapo knows where Outapi is, but when it comes to development we are completely forgotten. Dear comrades, we are not fools, one day we’ll get tired.Budget* THE facts are that our Government never had a Budget surplus full stop. Hundreds of millions were paid out of suspense accounts instead of budget accounts to avoid it being reported as overspending by the Auditor General. Honourable Minister it will be in our best interest if you can inform us of the total amount illegally allocated from suspense accounts.* THE Budget is a big disappointment to income earners. We expected reduced tax rates – we cannot attract foreign investors let alone create employment for the masses with high tax rates. It’s a shame we are always copying RSA but not on tax!Education* NAMCOL please extend the Grade 12 registration and provide enough study material.* TEACHING is a noble profession. But, in Namibia today it is tiring, stressful and not rewarding. After two o’clock compensatory teaching session starts until three or later. Books still have to be marked, teaching aids still to be prepared and lesson plans to be written. It could be six of them, every day like in my case. No time out! Well. It is the child at heart, it is all good. It will boost the economy in the end, but teachers are not considered, not fairly remunerated nor respected. It seems their effort is worthless to society! Adjust the salaries of teachers as a matter of urgency to avoid a strike or losing valuable servants. Others will join of course and leave soon after.From the regions* I WANT to air my views about Omuthiya becoming the capital of Oshikoto Region. How on earth could our Government come up with this stupid idea? You cannot compare Tsumeb with that small village. Instead of bringing development to Tsumeb, they are trying to develop a new town from scratch. It will take years for Omuthiya to get to the level of Tsumeb.* The Councillor for Elim constituency must do something to the two drifts in Onaanda area. They do not serve any purpose as they instead make Onaanda inaccessible, as the water is just too deep for cars to go through. He must remember that one of the best schools in this country and in Omusati region in particular is situated in this area. We need bridges, not drifts. We drive cars, not submarines. – Concerned Citizen* PRESIDENT Pohamba is trying to fool the people of the Karas Region by suggesting building a technical school. He suggested one of the three secondary schools be converted. How on earth is that possible if these schools are always overcrowded? We don’t want second-hand development. Build new infrastructures like you do in the four O-regions. We aren’t second-class citizens.* CAN the Ministry of Education tell us why they only gave study loans/grants to half of the student nurse
s at Rundu regional health training centre from last year’s applicants? I wonder if we’ll even get the grants/loans for this year.* SWAKOPMUND municipality please treat the sewage plant continuously. We the Tamariskia residents can’t take the horrible smell any longer. Can you please commission an assessment on the impact of sewage plant on Tamariskia residents? We need to know the risks of inhaling the smell on a daily basis.* WE have got some pieces of tarred roads and streets at Rundu, but they are facing complete disappearance in few months because of poor maintenance. The tar has got uneven edges not supported by concrete beams, the road surface is cracking like nobody’s business. Some areas are already showing more (pot) holes than tar! As usual, we will wait until breakdown and then fix it!* MINISTRY of Finance, Rundu, why is it taking so long to assess the tax returns? What happened to your Customer Service Charter?* THE Walvis Bay fire-fighting teams are very slow in reacting to fires. What are we paying the tax for if our social services are not fulfilled? The Walvis Bay municipality must put a fire-fighting crew on 24-hour standby. We are losing our properties to untamed fires. – Nakale TPGeneral* CITY of Windhoek, please do something. We Unam students from Katutura are suffering because the municipal busses are always late. Our classes start at 07h30, but it is the time the bus reaches the bus stop. Again, instead of taking us straight to Unam they will drop us at the Academia bus stop, meaning we have to foot again to Unam. Why can’t you at least arrange a bus that will come at 06h40 and take us to Unam before our classes start.* THE late chief of the Mbanderu community has left a huge vacuum that needs to be filled by all the Ovambanderu tribes. However, it looks that this vacuum remains unattended and what we see within our community is division. Therefore as a peace-loving Namibian it is disturbing to note that within our midst there are people who still support division. The most disappointing is the appointment of Mr K Nguvauva without prior consultation with the rest of the Mbanderu community.* ONE wonders how some of the GRN Police Chief Commissioners managed to get appointed into these positions with their pathetic English diction. It’s really embarrassing listening to them on TV. Also, I’ve heard many of them can hardly take down a sworn statement, while many well-read Police officers from minority tribes are denied promotions. Is there justice in this Swapo-led Namibia?* IT’S only now after 17 years the Government gets to remember the war veterans. Is the Government only for pensioners and war veterans, what will happen to the youths, are we not Namibians or what? Government please make plans for the youth at least N$100 per month before it is too late.* HOSEA Kutako Airport check-in agents are not productive on weekends due to the long working hours on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, where they work over 14 hours on each of these days consecutively. They only get home at 23h00 and still continue the next day and these are six-day workers. Please Mr MD do something, this is an airline not a security company. No wonder most of the complaints about your staff from passengers are on weekends because of the tiring long hours. Please Mr MD these people also have a life to live and families to take care of.* TO the nurse who wants an apology: Even IF the baby was brought to the hospital three hours after the snakebite, does it justify the fact that they had to wait another four hours at the hospital? Come on now, just admit your wrongs and bear in mind that for a person using public transport and living on the outskirts of Windhoek it’s not easy and quick to get to the hospital. Really, do you have a heart at all? – DebbyFood for thought * NAPWU-NANTU claimed that they are carrying out the mandate of their members who are civil servants. How does one represent someone if you do not consult with that person? Can the union show the civil servants the mandate or agreement for negotiating with the Government the 18 per cent over three years or the five per cent. Your members are paying your salaries, so you should take instructions from them, not just deciding what to do. Are you guys conversant with economics and the implications of interest rates? All members should cancel their monthly contributions to Napwu-Nantu, period. – Kgalemang * MINISTER of Fisheries, Dr Abraham Iyambo, how much longer will you allow employees to work without benefits on board your research vessels? Is that allowed to happen in your Ministry? Do something fast to change the situation. Why can’t you instruct the tendering company to give employees benefits? This is a seven-million-dollar tender of Government money we are talking about. If the Minister has not read this, someone please tell him. – Concerned employees.Thank you * CREDIT must be given where it is due. Not all Home Affairs staff are bad people. Thumbs up to Ben Migel of Home Affairs Southern Industrial. I had a tight schedule on Wednesday and at the same time I had to go pick up my new ID. Ben was very willing to listen to my problem and it took me two minutes to get my ID. Please Ben, keep it up. You’re a good example to your fellow colleagues and we need more Bens in the public and private sector! – Loide * ‘INTERVIEW with a canine’ – nice one Dom, I really enjoyed it. Keep it coming. – Fan Ramatex closure * ALL the investors in Namibia should have clear-cut preconditions under which their economic operations should be carried out. There is no doubt that Ramatex underestimated or even disregarded the constitutional powers vested in the Government by the people of this country. Such investors must be punished with all the constitutional instruments in place to safeguard the people of Namibia. Act now.* LET’S string them all up, Ramatex crooks and their local political friends, cut our losses, and get Nangolo Mbumba (Minister of Education) to transform the empty factories into more schools! * LET Ramatex go. Let’s clean up the waste and turn the property into low-cost housing for Namibia’s poor. After all, if the Government could subsidise Ramatex with taxpayer money, we can take care of our own people.* THE media, (trade) unions and the nation at large have been crying to Government to think twice before it spent money on the Ramatex. The same continue to cry about the Chinese in the country. Maybe they will open their eyes if they hear Chinese running for elections. Let’s wait and see.* THE Ramatex workforce who were left in cold are the most vulnerable portion of our society. They vote in every election to at least retain job security. When 3 000 workers arrive at their workplace to take up their duties and find out the reality of denial by their own Government, who is to be blamed for anarchy and discontent in our beloved country? – Tsaes.* PLEASE fellow Namibians, let the interest of Namibia be a priority before the interest of any political party. Swapo was warned about Ramatex and today the Prime Minister is crying that Ramatex is not keeping its promise. Swapo is not losing in the Ramatex issue, but Namibia is.Politics in general * ALL Swapo and RDP members should stop criticising each other, because it takes us nowhere. Criticising will only lead to divisions and civil war, which is easy to start but difficult to stop.* THE South should stop falling for empty promises from Swapo. They just want our vote after that you are nothing! Look at your livestock losses – did you get any assistance? NO! – RM * PEOPLE like Jerry Ekandjo are the ones failing the nation. Just look at the Ministry he is heading. It has failed to address the issue of land. No wonder Swapo is now Shawapo, meaning it has fallen. No more constructive ideas are coming from the likes of Jerry Ekandjo.* THE local authority councillor for Keetmanshoop, Basil Brown, is fighting his own Swapo colleagues who voted for him, what a shame. It is high time for the Swapo Party to take drastic steps against the councillor. What he is doing is pure treason against the Swapo Party.* SWAPO supporters always refer to RDP lead
ers as ‘a bunch of frustrated individuals’. Fair enough, but was it not frustration with apartheid and colonialism that prompted the formation of Swapo in the first place? So if frustration could cause the formation of Swapo the same can lead to the formation of other political parties. – Penda, Ondangwa * WHEN it comes to elections, Swapo knows where Outapi is, but when it comes to development we are completely forgotten. Dear comrades, we are not fools, one day we’ll get tired.Budget * THE facts are that our Government never had a Budget surplus full stop. Hundreds of millions were paid out of suspense accounts instead of budget accounts to avoid it being reported as overspending by the Auditor General. Honourable Minister it will be in our best interest if you can inform us of the total amount illegally allocated from suspense accounts.* THE Budget is a big disappointment to income earners. We expected reduced tax rates – we cannot attract foreign investors let alone create employment for the masses with high tax rates. It’s a shame we are always copying RSA but not on tax! Education * NAMCOL please extend the Grade 12 registration and provide enough study material.* TEACHING is a noble profession. But, in Namibia today it is tiring, stressful and not rewarding. After two o’clock compensatory teaching session starts until three or later. Books still have to be marked, teaching aids still to be prepared and lesson plans to be written. It could be six of them, every day like in my case. No time out! Well. It is the child at heart, it is all good. It will boost the economy in the end, but teachers are not considered, not fairly remunerated nor respected. It seems their effort is worthless to society! Adjust the salaries of teachers as a matter of urgency to avoid a strike or losing valuable servants. Others will join of course and leave soon after.From the regions * I WANT to air my views about Omuthiya becoming the capital of Oshikoto Region. How on earth could our Government come up with this stupid idea? You cannot compare Tsumeb with that small village. Instead of bringing development to Tsumeb, they are trying to develop a new town from scratch. It will take years for Omuthiya to get to the level of Tsumeb.* The Councillor for Elim constituency must do something to the two drifts in Onaanda area. They do not serve any purpose as they instead make Onaanda inaccessible, as the water is just too deep for cars to go through. He must remember that one of the best schools in this country and in Omusati region in particular is situated in this area. We need bridges, not drifts. We drive cars, not submarines. – Concerned Citizen * PRESIDENT Pohamba is trying to fool the people of the Karas Region by suggesting building a technical school. He suggested one of the three secondary schools be converted. How on earth is that possible if these schools are always overcrowded? We don’t want second-hand development. Build new infrastructures like you do in the four O-regions. We aren’t second-class citizens.* CAN the Ministry of Education tell us why they only gave study loans/grants to half of the student nurses at Rundu regional health training centre from last year’s applicants? I wonder if we’ll even get the grants/loans for this year.* SWAKOPMUND municipality please treat the sewage plant continuously. We the Tamariskia residents can’t take the horrible smell any longer. Can you please commission an assessment on the impact of sewage plant on Tamariskia residents? We need to know the risks of inhaling the smell on a daily basis.* WE have got some pieces of tarred roads and streets at Rundu, but they are facing complete disappearance in few months because of poor maintenance. The tar has got uneven edges not supported by concrete beams, the road surface is cracking like nobody’s business. Some areas are already showing more (pot) holes than tar! As usual, we will wait until breakdown and then fix it! * MINISTRY of Finance, Rundu, why is it taking so long to assess the tax returns? What happened to your Customer Service Charter? * THE Walvis Bay fire-fighting teams are very slow in reacting to fires. What are we paying the tax for if our social services are not fulfilled? The Walvis Bay municipality must put a fire-fighting crew on 24-hour standby. We are losing our properties to untamed fires. – Nakale TP General * CITY of Windhoek, please do something. We Unam students from Katutura are suffering because the municipal busses are always late. Our classes start at 07h30, but it is the time the bus reaches the bus stop. Again, instead of taking us straight to Unam they will drop us at the Academia bus stop, meaning we have to foot again to Unam. Why can’t you at least arrange a bus that will come at 06h40 and take us to Unam before our classes start.* THE late chief of the Mbanderu community has left a huge vacuum that needs to be filled by all the Ovambanderu tribes. However, it looks that this vacuum remains unattended and what we see within our community is division. Therefore as a peace-loving Namibian it is disturbing to note that within our midst there are people who still support division. The most disappointing is the appointment of Mr K Nguvauva without prior consultation with the rest of the Mbanderu community.* ONE wonders how some of the GRN Police Chief Commissioners managed to get appointed into these positions with their pathetic English diction. It’s really embarrassing listening to them on TV. Also, I’ve heard many of them can hardly take down a sworn statement, while many well-read Police officers from minority tribes are denied promotions. Is there justice in this Swapo-led Namibia? * IT’S only now after 17 years the Government gets to remember the war veterans. Is the Government only for pensioners and war veterans, what will happen to the youths, are we not Namibians or what? Government please make plans for the youth at least N$100 per month before it is too late.* HOSEA Kutako Airport check-in agents are not productive on weekends due to the long working hours on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, where they work over 14 hours on each of these days consecutively. They only get home at 23h00 and still continue the next day and these are six-day workers. Please Mr MD do something, this is an airline not a security company. No wonder most of the complaints about your staff from passengers are on weekends because of the tiring long hours. Please Mr MD these people also have a life to live and families to take care of.* TO the nurse who wants an apology: Even IF the baby was brought to the hospital three hours after the snakebite, does it justify the fact that they had to wait another four hours at the hospital? Come on now, just admit your wrongs and bear in mind that for a person using public transport and living on the outskirts of Windhoek it’s not easy and quick to get to the hospital. Really, do you have a heart at all? – Debby