Observer Money – Page 183 – Windhoek Observer

19 Jun

NAC HQ placed under lockdown

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, NAC, Namibia Airports Company (NAC)

Staff Writer The negative effects of Case 33 who was arrested by police for entering the country illegally are being felt by various organisations in Windhoek, with the Namibia Airports Company (NAC) becoming the third organisation this week to lockdown its building as part of precautionary measures against Covid-19. According the airports operator, one of its employees resides in the same building, 77 on Independence, where the Covid-19 positive suspect was arrested. “This decision comes after careful consideration of the possible risk of exposure,” NAC Chief Executive Officer, Bisey Uirab said. On Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture was also forced…

19 Jun

12% of Namibian adults HIV positive

ObserverObserver MoneyHIV, US Centre of Disease Control (CDC)

Andrew Kathindi The Country Director for the US Centre of Disease Control (CDC) in Namibian, Eric Dziuban says over 200,000 people in Namibia are living with HIV. “There are 200,000 people living with HIV in this country and that is around 12 percent of all adults in this country being HIV positive. The numbers are lower in young children, because we have such a successful programme in preventing mother to child transmission,” said the CDC Country director. “The latest data shows that people who are on treatment, taking their medicine every day virally suppressed, their life expectancy is basically exactly…

19 Jun

Walvis Bay records five more cases

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Kalumbi Shangula, Minister of Health, Walvis Bay

….as 10-year old becomes youngest case Andrew Kathindi Namibia has recorded its single biggest jump in one day for COVID-19 positive cases, after the Minister of Health, Kalumbi Shangula, on Friday evening announced five new cases from Walvis Bay. This is in addition to the 40th case, a Namibian male from Kuisebmund, whom the minister announced in the morning (Friday), bringing the total number of cases in the country to 45. All five new cases have been in contact with case 34, the 39-year old female, who is an officer at the Walvis Bay Correctional Services. “Case number 41 is…

19 Jun

Learner tests positive for COVID-19

ObserverObserver MoneyMariental High School, Ministry of Education Executive Director, Sanet Steenkamp

Andrew Kathindi Namibia has recorded its first school COVID-19 case after a 20-year-old learner from Mariental High School in the Hardap region tested positive for the virus on Thursday. The learner is case number 37 who travelled from Walvis Bay, a current hotbed for the rising COVID-19 cases in the country and attended school on 11th of June. This comes less than a month since over 49,000 learners in grade 11 and 12 across the country returned to school as part of the first phase of the Ministry of Education’s roll out plan to resume face to face teaching. Ministry…

19 Jun

Rising cases won’t determine lock down status – Shangula

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Erongo, Health Minister Kalumbi Shangula, lockdown

Andrew Kathindi With the two week lockdown in Erongo region set to end on 22 June and cases rising almost daily, Health minister Kalumbi Shangula says the extension or lifting of the stage 1 lockdown will not be determined by the rising cases. “We don’t take a decision based one or two cases. We take the totality of the factors into consideration, epidemiological, public health, economical, then we take the sum total and make a decision. There are many factors being taken into consideration, not just the number of cases. The public will know before the expiry of the deadline,”…

19 Jun

Union denies deal on Pick n Pay retrenchments

ObserverObserver MoneyNamibia Food & Allied Workers Union (NAFAU), Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group

Staff Writer It has emerged Pick n’ Pay could have jumped the gun by announcing plans to retrench 500 employees without reaching an agreement with the Namibia Food & Allied Workers Union (NAFAU). According to Nafau, the union and the retailer owned by the Ohlthaver & List (O&L) Group, were still to engage over the company plans and the retrenchment announcement took it by surprise, a position confirmed by company. This also comes as it emerged that Pick n’ Pay had only communicated plans to retrench 450 employees to the union and not the 500 announced. “We are not in…

18 Jun

Namibia records two new Covid cases

ObserverObserver MoneyCovid-19, Minister of Health and Social Services

Staff Writer The Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula on Wednesday evening announced that Namibia had recorded two additional positive cases of Covid-19 ,bringing the total number of cases to 36. According to the minister, Case 35 is a 26-years old Namibian male, resident of Walvis Bay, who went to the Walvis Bay hospital on 15th June 2020 complaining of cough, difficulty in breathing, headache and fever since the 14 June 2020. “He was picked up by the ambulance on the same day and taken to the hospital. He was screened, swabbed and then admitted in isolation ward.…

18 Jun

Lack of land hamstrings NHE

ObserverObserver MoneyNational Housing Enterprise (NHE), NHE, Public Private Partnership (PPP)

Andrew Kathindi The National Housing Enterprise (NHE) says the lack of land has been a hindrance in delivering on its mandate. Speaking to Windhoek Observer, NHE corporate communications manager, Eric Libongani, said the NHE has no special access and has to compete for land just like private developers, in a country where the scarcity of viable land for housing development is a challenge. “We do not want to look like we are pointing fingers but I think what is critical, we need to realize that the institution that is given the sole mandate on behalf of government to construct houses…

18 Jun

Fishcor boss speaks out

ObserverObserver MoneyFishcor, Paulus Ngalangi

..as Case 33 poses a conundrum for police Andrew Kathindi Fishcor General Manager for Finance Paulus Ngalangi on Wednesday spoke out over his links and involvement with a Covid-19 positive South African suspect arrested by the police in Windhoek’s City Centre over the weekend. Ngalangi whose term ended as Fishcor’s Acting boss in May, said he had transported the suspected who is now in police custody “as a favor” to an unidentified friend and enlisted the services of a police officer, who has been arrested. “I was asked by a friend to collect a gentleman who was stuck with transport…

17 Jun

Gender ministry rejects abortion rights

ObserverObserver MoneyMinistry of Gender Equality, Namibia, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare

Andrew Kathindi The Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare has stated it does not support recent calls to legalize abortion in Namibia. This declaration was made amid increased calls after an online petition by psychological counsellor, Beauty Boois calling for the legalizing of abortion in the country, garnered over 4,000 signatures. Currently, abortion is illegal in Namibia except under specific conditions involving a pregnancy due to proven rape or incest according to the Abortion and Sterilisation Act of South Africa of (1975), which Namibia inherited at independence in 1990. This remnant law from the apartheid days has…