Education pays N$400k a month for offices
10 July 2019 | Education
The Ohangwena education directorate is spending millions a year to rent offices, while the construction of its office complex has been terminated until further notice, due to poor workmanship.
The Ohangwena region council is not happy with the situation that sees the education directorate fork out N$400 000 a month in rental fees for offices at Eenhana.
The Ohangwena education directorate moved to Eenhana from Ondangwa in October 2012 and has been renting at the Greenwell Complex.
In 2016 the education ministry started with the construction of a N$57 million office complex at Eenhana that was expected to be completed this year, but the project has since stalled, with only 20% of the work completed. In his State of the Region Address (Sora), read on his behalf by regional council chairperson Ericsson Ndawanifa, Ohangwena governor Usko Nghaamwa expressed his disappointment over the construction of the education office complex and the Onanghulo clinic.
“These two projects are draining government of a lot of money, and they continue to do so, especially the education directorate, as staff have been renting offices at a very high price. However, the project has been abandoned and it is still not clear when it will resume,” Nghaamwa said.
“I am therefore calling upon entrepreneurs to measure their capacities and not just go for any project that comes their way. Government resources are also limited and need to be jealously guarded by patriotic Namibians, as these are public resources that need to sustain the whole nation.”
Ohangwena regional education director Isak Hamatwi said they are paying N$395 905.05 a month as rental fees.
Commenting on the construction of the directorate's regional office, he said the contract was terminated by the works ministry as the employer, in liaison with the consultant, who had been supervising the project.
He said the site had not been abandoned.
“The termination was due to poor workmanship and all that was said at the SORA,” Hamatwi said.
Ohangwena chief regional officer Fellep Shilongo said the education directorate's office complex is a capital project that is monitored by central government, and therefore the region cannot comment on any details.
ILENI NANDJATO
The Ohangwena region council is not happy with the situation that sees the education directorate fork out N$400 000 a month in rental fees for offices at Eenhana.
The Ohangwena education directorate moved to Eenhana from Ondangwa in October 2012 and has been renting at the Greenwell Complex.
In 2016 the education ministry started with the construction of a N$57 million office complex at Eenhana that was expected to be completed this year, but the project has since stalled, with only 20% of the work completed. In his State of the Region Address (Sora), read on his behalf by regional council chairperson Ericsson Ndawanifa, Ohangwena governor Usko Nghaamwa expressed his disappointment over the construction of the education office complex and the Onanghulo clinic.
“These two projects are draining government of a lot of money, and they continue to do so, especially the education directorate, as staff have been renting offices at a very high price. However, the project has been abandoned and it is still not clear when it will resume,” Nghaamwa said.
“I am therefore calling upon entrepreneurs to measure their capacities and not just go for any project that comes their way. Government resources are also limited and need to be jealously guarded by patriotic Namibians, as these are public resources that need to sustain the whole nation.”
Ohangwena regional education director Isak Hamatwi said they are paying N$395 905.05 a month as rental fees.
Commenting on the construction of the directorate's regional office, he said the contract was terminated by the works ministry as the employer, in liaison with the consultant, who had been supervising the project.
He said the site had not been abandoned.
“The termination was due to poor workmanship and all that was said at the SORA,” Hamatwi said.
Ohangwena chief regional officer Fellep Shilongo said the education directorate's office complex is a capital project that is monitored by central government, and therefore the region cannot comment on any details.
ILENI NANDJATO
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