SMSss for Tuesday 25 January 2011

SMS Of The Day
*IT is payback time. The severe droughts and floods experienced around the world is the price we are now paying for environmental damage that we humans caused, and it will get worse. Mark my words!

Food for Thought*CARS/Taxi – Request for Transport. Government save the lives of Namibians. The State can bring a modern electrical train into the country which is faster than the current one. First World EU member countries public buses and trains are controlled by their states. Government take control and be responsible for national transport with low fees the public can afford. Help the nation.- MetusalemBouquets and Brickbats*CONGRATULATIONS to Cool Zone FC Onampadhi for winning the Oneputa tournament. Guys, those are the wonderful things that make us proud.- Madox*DR Tjivikua, the Polytechnic is run on excellent principles. We students write our exams on time and get our results as indicated prior to the exams on time too. That is professional conduct. Thank you for leading a very dedicated team and let’s keep it up.- Nana
*I PRAISE Namsov employees for taking action against nepotism and unfair labour practice. Workers are tired of being treated as cheap labourers. Viva workers.- Comrade Dries Uukule*LIRONGA Eparu’s funding withdrawn ‘because of Emma’. 45 000 people living with HIV are out in the cold. That is the Namibia we know. How can you punish 45 000 because of an individual? But this does not apply to GIPF. Shame!*GWEN Lister’s Political Perspective. Gwen failed badly to get KK’s issue on racism. Everyone, whether black or white, should and must obey to be searched wherever it may be.*GWEN Lister’s Friday Political Perspective. Why should people keep quiet about racism? How must black and white people get along in this country if racism is not tackled?- Very disappointed.*ONE does not need to be a (rocket) scientist to notice how little thinking goes into the construction of rural road bridges. In a flood-plain (oshana) stretching over 300m-500m those who build these roads would commonly put a few round pipes (often less than ten) of less than a metre in diameter. This has been a common practice since Independence. Obviously these makeshift culverts-cum-bridges CANNOT possibly accommodate all the flood water that would naturally flow through these oshanas! No wonder these roads are frequently washed away. The public is obviously being ripped-off here. Are there no longer standards in road construction in this country? Is this a budgetary or engineering/implementation problem? Who inspects these works? The public deserves answers!- The Patriot.*CAN you perhaps find a different graphic to replace the hand with a gaping mouth, Weekender January 21, p16? That picture disturbs me so much. I read my paper from cover to cover but as soon as I stumble on that page I quickly close it and go to the next page.Running the Show*CAN the Prime Minister Nahas Angula please act and respond to complaints about CEOs of SOEs as submitted to the SOE Governance Council. Can a complainant wait for up to four months even if the Council was scheduled to meet in that time?City of Windhoek*CITY of Windhoek. There needs to be robots please at the T- junction of Auas Road and the street from Eros airport at Safari Hotel. That junction is delaying a lot of cars especially in the morning, at lunch and knock-off time.Taxi Talk*CAN we please mind our own business and let the taxi drivers go on strike! They have the right, just like the Struggle Kids went on strike and they are now in the NDF. The fines are too much.*NAMIBIA is a country where the Rule of Law ought to reign supreme. We cannot allow taxi drivers to bend the rules as far as new traffic fines are concerned as taxi drivers either break the rules and pay the fines or obey the rules and avoid being fined/going to jail. It is as simple as that besides fines were not set exclusively for taxi drivers but for all road users. I do not understand why the authorities are trying to make these fines negotiable as one cannot make life-saving rules and neutralise them at the same time. Let the new traffic rules stand.- Vapopya, Walvis Bay.*NABTA is quick to react with the new traffic fines but they rarely talk about the fact that the bus drivers abuse passengers during the festive season by over-charging and also causing chaos by fighting for passengers.Law and Order*WHERE are the so called political experts and analysts and legal people to tell and guide the nation on what might happen if the court decides for or against in the High Court election challenge? What are the legal implications?- JD Hatutale*WHAT is speeding? Driving more than 120 km/hr? I do not believe so. According to what criteria is speeding measured? Please law enforcement explain because I fail to understand, with vehicles becoming much faster, reliable, stable with better engineered tyres, ABS, etc. Why can’t speed limits be reviewed? I believe many of us have it embedded in our heads that driving less than 120 km/hr one is safe from an accident.Education*DR Iyambo, it’s frustrating and disappointing, and I’m just not sure how one can teach with no exercise books. This is week two. Can you count how many days we have lost? Your inspector here should be able to explain to the parents if learners fail, because in the end everybody looks at the teacher.- Disappointed teacher, Ondobe Circuit.*MINISTER of Education help us. Do something at Petrus !Ganeb secondary school. We need an equipped laboratory so that we can do experiments at school. That’s why we are failing physics.- A concerned learner.*WE are compromising quality assurance in education with low qualifications and incompetent inspectors, principals and subject advisors in Kavango Region. If the right people with the right qualifications are not recruited learners in Kavango will keep on failing especially Grade 10 and 12. Please Dr Iyambo save the sinking ship in Kavango!*PLEASE speed up the payslips. Our Kunene Region is issued a monthly payslip after three months. Please help your poor teachers.*WHY is the Polytechnic and Unam not giving some learners responses after they applied there last year? Please give us a feedback on this. Our learners didn’t pay the N$80 and N$85 for nothing. Respond to all learners that applied and not only some please!*I AM a proud learner of the Khomas-tura Project School and am concerned about the behaviour and the discipline of my fellow learners. Why is there no surveillance at schools, especially Katutura and Khomasdal schools? Children bunk school and are in and out whenever they feel like with nothing being done and yet we are expected to pass with flying colours and be responsible citizens tomorrow.- A patriotic learner.Local is Lekker*WHY does Bank Windhoek, in their Money Matters, use the picture of US Dollars instead of Namibia Dollars. I have nothing against US Dollars; but we need to promote our local currency. It does not matter that the American dollar is an international currency.In and From the Regions*OKONGO land illegally sold! Can one believe what Kashikola is telling the nation with regard to the land ‘given’ to the Chinese? My calculations indicate that if what Kashikola is saying is true that the land will only be leased at N$321 per month for say for 99 years; the Council will only get N$381 348 from that lease. What a joke?*OSHAKATI Town Council! Why don’t you repair cracks and potholes in the dry season? Every year you are full of excuses instead of doing proper road maintenance! The potholes are unacceptable and damage our cars! Do something!*PLEASE Roads Authority, traffic lights are needed at the stop nearby Shali service station in Oshakati.- A concerned driver, Oshakati.*RUNDU Town Council is failing us big time! Road maintenance isn’t part of their roster anymore. The rainy season is the worst; a nightmare for road users! There are potholes about 15cms deep the length and breadth of the road! There’s one specific road where, after rain, water accumulates to such an extent that it literally forms an oasis the breadth of the road just about 100m’s from the city centre.*GROOT Aub police please stop sending people away with lame excuses; we want service. How can someone be robbed but the police say they can do nothing even when the thief is still around.Service Please*MTC please do something good for the Okakwa, Onunho and Onekwaya West’s residents because there is a big need for your connections to be extended in that area!*MTC we are your customers. People on daily duty take their time to attend to customers who call. Please employ enough employee to help the customers on time. To wait one hour with the phone is ringing is not good.- MTC customer*MTC we want a tower between Onamukulo and Ondobe. I as a resident and your customer of Oshali village will highly appreciate if you consider this! We struggle to make important calls during the night because of the limited network at Oshali and the surrounding villages!- Ndaloloka*WE residents of Eheke are struggling. There is no network this side of Eheke. Please do something.