Town status for Oranjemund soon

ORANJEMUND could be proclaimed a town as early as February next year, according to its Regional Councillor, Toivo Nampala.

Nampala yesterday said Cabinet had recently decided to proclaim town lands with a radius of 10 kilometres around Oranjemund, as well as the road linking it with Rosh Pinah.Nampala said Cabinet decided to remove the future town lands and the road from Namdeb’s mining licence in order to speed up the proclamation. Proclamation plans have been delayed by the legal processes around the handing over of Namdeb infrastructure. Namdeb spokesman Hilifa Mbako yesterday confirmed that the proclamation process is going ahead with the transfer of assets.’We (Namdeb management) have written to Government to expressed our delight with the proclamation process as it is currently, therefore we are prepared to cooperate with the road map set out in terms of the proclamation,’ said Mbako.However, he was quick to point out that there are certain provisions in the Diamond Act that need to be complied with. ‘Government should … take into account concerns such as the security and asset transfer aspects to benefit all relevant stakeholders,’ said Mbako. Mbako would not say how much Namdeb would want for its infrastructure. ‘We have an idea what the assets are worth, but at this stage it is not for public consumption yet,’ he said. Many Oranjemund residents have pushed Government to speed up the proclamation out of fear that the mining town could become a ghost town following an exodus of Namdeb employees who had opted for voluntary retrenchment. Early this year the global economic crisis forced Namdeb to lay off many of its workers.luqman@namibian.com.na