Hamata serious about uplifting Ohangwena
Hidipo Hamata, a member of parliament for the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) has described his goal as that of improving the lives of Namibians, especially those living in the Ohangwena Region where he is based.
Hamata said this during his maiden speech in parliament last week. He said he will achieve this goal by promoting policies and legislation that reflect the realities on the ground.
Among the issues he wants to address, are mental health challenges, lack of sanitation, poverty and poor school infrastructure, especially in the Ohangwena region.
He said many people in the region still walk long distances to fetch water from wells, while the region is said to have rich underground water resources.
The parliamentarian is also concerned about a majority of school-going children who can only access school by walking long distances every day.
“We have a combined number of 47 schools in the region that are without water and electricity, whilst five school hostels are in a dilapidated state. These sad realities of my region, coupled with our low communal agricultural farming production, has earned our region the national status of ‘poorest region in the country’", he said.
Root causes
Hamata, who gained significant ground for the PDM in the Ohangwena region, is also deeply concerned about the alarming rates of suicide and gender-based violence (GBV) there.
“I am wondering whether it is not time for our health authorities to start investigating the root causes of these atrocities. It is high time that these crimes are not merely statistics and social media jokes, but that they are actually addressed to put an end to these social problems,” he said.
Hamata also highlighted escalating teenage pregnancies and called for improved access to contraceptives for the youth.
“Namibia recorded 2 465 teenage pregnancies in January and February this year. The Ohangwena Region recorded the highest teenage pregnancies with 375. This is very concerning. We need to implore for successful strategies like community programmes to improve social development, responsible sexual behaviour education and improved contraceptive counselling and delivery to prevent or minimise adolescent teenage pregnancies in the Ohangwena Region,” he said.
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Hamata said this during his maiden speech in parliament last week. He said he will achieve this goal by promoting policies and legislation that reflect the realities on the ground.
Among the issues he wants to address, are mental health challenges, lack of sanitation, poverty and poor school infrastructure, especially in the Ohangwena region.
He said many people in the region still walk long distances to fetch water from wells, while the region is said to have rich underground water resources.
The parliamentarian is also concerned about a majority of school-going children who can only access school by walking long distances every day.
“We have a combined number of 47 schools in the region that are without water and electricity, whilst five school hostels are in a dilapidated state. These sad realities of my region, coupled with our low communal agricultural farming production, has earned our region the national status of ‘poorest region in the country’", he said.
Root causes
Hamata, who gained significant ground for the PDM in the Ohangwena region, is also deeply concerned about the alarming rates of suicide and gender-based violence (GBV) there.
“I am wondering whether it is not time for our health authorities to start investigating the root causes of these atrocities. It is high time that these crimes are not merely statistics and social media jokes, but that they are actually addressed to put an end to these social problems,” he said.
Hamata also highlighted escalating teenage pregnancies and called for improved access to contraceptives for the youth.
“Namibia recorded 2 465 teenage pregnancies in January and February this year. The Ohangwena Region recorded the highest teenage pregnancies with 375. This is very concerning. We need to implore for successful strategies like community programmes to improve social development, responsible sexual behaviour education and improved contraceptive counselling and delivery to prevent or minimise adolescent teenage pregnancies in the Ohangwena Region,” he said.
[email protected]
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