Observer – Page 626 – Windhoek Observer

26 Jun

FNB supports Van Rhyn Primary School

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust, FNB

Community Donation of N$10,000 from FNB Central Cluster Brian Kandanga through the FirstRand Namibia Foundation Trust. Items include: Face protector shields, gloves, hand sanitizers and masks. Due to the current situation (COVID-19) the school finds itself in a very difficult financial situation. As per WHO and Namibian Government regulations, schools need to purchase items which are very costly. The school can only guarantee quality education if the learners are healthy and if measures are in place that can protect them from the current pandemic. “From the school on the hill, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to FNB…

26 Jun

Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not a policy; it is confusion

ObserverNational Newsfisheries minister Albert Kawana, Walvis Bay

In May, fisheries minister Albert Kawana announced that the government will allocate certain horse mackerel and hake quotas to six companies. To get these quotas, companies were supposed to hire about 1,300 fishermen who lost their jobs due to the Fishrot scandal. In addition, the government has buckled to pressure and awarded quotas to new rights holders from the over 5,000 submissions that were received during the national casting call for applications for fishing quotas two years ago. To satisfy these situations, the government has decided to rob Peter to pay Paul. This has made matters worse. To spread the…

26 Jun

Port of Walvis Bay receives record size vessel

ObserverUncategorisedNamibian Ports Authority, Walvis Bay

Staff Writer The Namibian Ports Authority received one of the largest vessels to ever dock in Namibian waters; CMA CGM operated MV Mediterranean Bridge, with the length of 335.63 meters. This comes after the Port of Walvis Bay successfully handled a trial call of the first 9,000 TEUs Maersk Sheerness with the length of 335 meters in April. The Mediterranean Bridge is discharging 1,781 TEU’s and loading 697 TEU’s, which amounts to a record of 2,478 TEU’s handled on a single vessel at the Port of Walvis Bay and the vessel is scheduled to depart on 25th June 2020. Amando…

26 Jun

Ministry not relaxing English requirement

ObserverObserver Money

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Education has no plans to relax the English promotion requirement for critical grades. This comes amid calls for the current school curriculum to be revised, which currently has English as promotional language, particularly for learners in rural areas who are believed to be held back by the demand to attain a 40 percent pass mark for promotion. According to the latest promotion policy of 2015, a learner in Grades 5-7 should be promoted to the next grade if they have obtained an E-grade (40 percent) or better in 5 out of 6 promotional subjects, and…

26 Jun

Parliament postpones abortion discussion

ObserverObserver MoneyDeputy Minister of Health, Esther Muinjangue, NUDO, Parliament

Andrew Kathindi The discussion on the issue of abortion has been postponed until Thursday 2 July, after it was officially raised in Parliament by NUDO leader and Deputy Minister of Health, Esther Muinjangue. After giving notice to the house to discuss the issue, Muinjangue raised the matter Thursday, although she maintained she was not for abortion in her personal capacity. “The fact is that there are young girls who carry out abortion, whether it is traveling to other neighbouring countries or whether carrying it out in the backyards of our homes, it is taking place. Abortion does not only affect…

26 Jun

Govt tourism plans unlikely

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, president Hage Geingob, tourism

...as Health ministry insist on 14 day quarantine Andrew Kathindi Government’s touted plan to revive the tourism industry could be dead in the water before it has gotten off the ground after it has emerged that its requirements may be too strict. This comes after President Hage Geingob announced that part of Namibia’s stage 4 regulations, government will conduct a targeted International Tourism revival initiative between 15 July to 15 August 2020, in collaboration with the tourism sector. Parts of the proposed measures include keeping tourists in a quarantine facility for two weeks at their own risk and cost, after…

25 Jun

Geingob needs better advisors

ObserverNational NewsHigh Court

…as ill-advised labour ministry action judged to be illegal The High Court has found that the government acted against the constitution when it cherry-picked parts of the labour law and supressed certain clauses. The Minister of Labour failed by authoring this disastrous legal debacle. The Attorney General failed as he did not protect the administration by stopping the doomed labour action. Together, they exposed the president. Geingob needs better advisors. The Attorney-General, as the lawyer for the government, is supposed to do the legal research on proposed actions by the government. It is his task to go through the constitution,…

25 Jun

GIPF embarks on member Education campaign

ObserverUncategorisedGIPF, Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF)

Staff Writer The Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) will embark on a member education campaign aimed at informing, educating and sensitizing our members about their benefits and rules of the Fund “The campaign will commerce on 29 June and will run until 31 July 2020. It is with great pleasure that we invite all our members to make use of these member information sessions on radio and print. We wish to emphasize that it is our members’ responsibility to make sure that they tune in and listen or buy the local newspapers to know more about GIPF offerings. As a…

25 Jun

Namport records increases in cargo shipments

ObserverUncategorisedLüderitz, Namibian Ports Authority (Namport), Namport, Walvis Bay

Staff Writer The Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) announced that it has handled one million tons of cargo carried along its four trade corridors from 01 April 2019 until 31 March 2020. Immanuel !Hanabeb, Executive: Commercial at Namport said the Port of Walvis Bay and Lüderitz had contributed equally to the success by recording 5,561,999 tons of cargo handled during this last financial year 2019/2020. “The largest portion of growth is reflected by the 100 percent increased activity along the Trans-Oranje Corridor as 204,301 tonnes of manganese ore was exported via the Port of Lüderitz. The benefit of the Trans-Oranje corridor…

25 Jun

SSC pays N$22m under stimulus

ObserverObserver MoneySocial Security Commission (SSC)

…as 4,000 applications are rejected Staff Writer The Social Security Commission (SSC) says it has paid over N$22 million to 6,000 employees whose jobs and incomes were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic under its stimulus package. This comes as the commissions received 16,000 applicants of which 4,000 have been rejected and 6,000 are currently undergoing verification. Quizzed on the high number of rejections, SSC’s Senior Manager: Communications & Marketing, Unomengi Kauapirura said, “the applications were rejected for various reasons including that the employee’s salary may not have been impacted on and thus the employees is still receiving their full salary…