Day: September 7, 2023

Namibian Police Force spokesperson for the Oshikoto Region, Inspector Ellen Nehale has urged the public to stay vigilant and guard against scammers.

The warning comes after a case of theft under false pretences was opened by the police in Tsumeb, where an ex-employee of Telecom Namibia allegedly told his victim that the company was auctioning vehicles which employees can buy at affordable prices.

Nehale said the victim allegedly paid money into the suspect’s bank account to buy him a pick-up at thr purported staff price.

‘The victim deposited N.dollars 148 000 into the suspect’s account to buy the pick-up, which was supposed to be handed over to the victim on 04 September 2023 in Tsumeb,’ she said.

Nehale said the suspect started using the money on his own expenses.

When the police investigated the matter they found that the suspect had used N.dollars 11 000. The remaining money is still in the account as it was frozen.

Nehale advised the public to avoid business transactions that seem dubious.

‘The public is discouraged from buying cars or any other items before physically seeing them or verifying the proof of payment,’ she added.

Further, Nehale said people should not pay money into bank accounts before ensuring if the business is legit and should avoid doing business with people through social media.

She encouraged members of the public to report any suspicious activity relating to scams to the nearest police station.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa on Wednesday commissioned phase two of the Charlie Cutline District Road, located some 70km west of Rundu in the Kavango West Region.

“The construction of the first phase of the road, covering a distance of 40km, which commenced in June last year, was completed in November of the same year,” the minister said.

Phase one of the project was completed at N.dollars 30 million, while phase two is valued at close to N.dollars 30 million as well.

Mutorwa reiterated that the development of rural roads is a crucial undertaking towards the socio-economic transformation of rural villages.

“If you can look at the activities in this area, it is mainly agriculture such as animal husbandry and plantations of mahangu for food production,” he stated.

He described the Charlie Cutline District Road as very important as it connects the two Kavango regions to Oshikoto and Ohangwena.

Mutorwa believes that the construction of the said road will promote interregional trade and that such a move will transform the lives of the people who are living in rural areas.

He further said continued investment in roads plays an important role in stimulating economic growth and job creation.

The minister said upon completion, farmers in the area will be provided with all-weather access to the market places and that all schools and government institutions in the surrounding towns will be connected to the main road networks.

Murorwa said the contractor on the project is Roadhard CC and they employed 25 people as of 31 August 2023.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Road Contractor Company (RCC) employees on Wednesday held a peaceful demonstration in the capital, demanding salary increments in a petition handed over to management.

Speaking on behalf of the employees, the group’s chairperson, Erastus Kalute, stated that RCC employees have not received a salary increment in seven years and that employee leave days were reduced to twelve days without negotiations with the employees or Namibia Public Workers Union (Napwu).

‘We demand that the company engages its employees through their union and must comply with relevant provisions of he Labour Act and that the company should pay out all outstanding leave days to the current and former employees affected by these changes upon retirement or resignations and that the accrued leave days be reinstated,’ Kalute said.

The employees further demanded that the Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Maria Nakale, be removed from CEO position as the employees claim she is a relative to the landlord of the building in where the RCC is headquartered, describing this as a conflict of interest.

Nakale, who received the petition on behalf of the RCC’s management, promised to relay it to the relevant authorities for consideration.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Petrofund Chief executive officer, Nillian Mulemi, said that Namibia has a very strong talent base that may be used as a bridge to more advanced training for the oil and gas industry.

Mulemi said during an information session at Parliament in the capital on Thursday that over 8,000 Namibians have prerequisite training and can be further trained to work in the oil and gas industry.

“We are happy to report that Namibia indeed has a very good base of skills we can use to transition to further training for the oil and gas industry,” she said.

With the oil discoveries offshore Namibia, the oil and gas sector is poised to become a lucrative business industry in Namibia, but there has been concern about the local capacity in terms of skills and training.

Mulemi noted that Petrofund had been developing the country’s skill base before the commercial oil discoveries.

The fund was established in 1993 in terms of Section 14 of the Exploration and Production Act to offer training in the fields of science and information technology through scholarships.

The fund has since trained 368 Namibians, who are now working in various sectors in the country.

“We are also pleased to report that we recognised that there will be a need for specialised skills for the oil and gas industry. We started about six years ago allowing our graduates to acquire specialised training for the oil and gas industry,” she said.

As a result, she said the fund has assisted 63 Namibians to acquire specialised training in the oil and gas sector.

Mulemi said the fund is planning to provide scholarships to about 70 students for further training and is in the process of launching a TVET oil and gas scholarship programme.

“I want to emphasise that the training of skills for the oil and gas industry requires that you appreciate where the stage of development is. We have predominantly been in the exploration stage.

“Therefore, the skills we were training were responding to the fact that we were exploring. As we move towards appraisal, field development and possibly production, we are now gearing the country to be ready for that phase of the industry,’ she added.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

No fewer than 29 countries and states have arrived Abuja for the 16th edition of the International Arts and Craft Expo (INAC).

Chief Olusegun Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), organisers of INAC, disclosed this on Thursday during the opening ceremony.

The theme for the expo is “Networking Nigerian Craft to the World”.

Runsewe said that the platform was deliberately created to market Nigerian arts and crafts to the world as well as unite individuals across cultural divide.

“INAC is a platform we consciously designed to market our crafts and arts to the world, as you can see the number of states and countries in attendance.

“We have 29 countries,16 states and 21 non-governmental organisations already at the opening. This is for everyone regardless of their country to network, collaborate and make fortune from the platform.

“For me, the sector is key to uniting Nigerians and the world, we must continue to put Nigeria together in all we do.

“The international communities are the biggest informants to the world, this platform tells the world that there is peace in Nigeria and it is a place for investment,” Runsewe said.

According to him, the expo is getting bigger and better as over 50 Nigerians have been helped to travel out of the country.

He said countries kept inviting Nigerians for different forms of business deals through contacts developed on the platform.

“For us, this is getting bigger every year.

“A cultural troupe that performed last year was invited by the Indian embassy to perform in New Delhi, similar opportunities abound.

The director-general said that the expo would be loaded with lots of entertainment as renowned artistes had been scheduled to thrill guests in the course of the expo.

He informed the audience that free skill acquisition programmes were also ongoing, urging interested persons to take advantage of the opportunity.

Also speaking, Masudur Rahman, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria, identified Nigeria as the centre of cultural gravity of Africa as the country is endowed with enormous tourism and cultural potential.

“It is a big opportunity for Bangladesh to partner with you since 2016 when we started our mission here.

“It is time to celebrate the strength of the world through Nigerian culture,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some of the countries in attendance were: Iran, Philippines, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Syria, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, China, Cuba, Indonesia, Columba, Korea, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Mexico, Bangladesh, Iraq.

Also in attendance were states like Taraba, Lagos, Enugu, Borno, Katsina, Anambra, Rivers, Adamawa, Abia, Kaduna, Ogun, Yobe have mounted their exhibition booths. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Source: News Agency of Nigeria