Govt office without power since July
The agriculture ministry's state-of-the-art Kavango East regional headquarters in Rundu has been without electricity for over two months.
This is after Nored disconnected the electricity supply in July due to non-payment.
This was confirmed by Nored spokesperson Simon Lukas.
“What I can confirm is that Nored has cut the power to the office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Rundu because of the non-payment of the account,” Lukas said.
He did not reveal the amount owed, citing Nored's client confidentiality policy.
Namibian Sun, however, understands that the power has been cut to several of offices belonging to the ministry, which are in arrears due to a shortage of funds. Attempts to get comment from the ministry proved futile.
On Monday when Namibian Sun visited the state-of-the-art N$27 million building in Rundu, employees were using their private laptops they had charged at home.
Office doors were left open to compensate for the lack of air-conditioning.
The employees said this has been the case for more than two months.
“What should we do? We are employed and we should show up and carry out our duties. We just have to do what we can, even if that means making sure you come with a fully-charged laptop, and once the battery loses its power, you quickly go home and charge it and return back to work,” one of the employees said.
The employees indicated that the ministry is aware of the situation and they remain hopeful that the situation will be addressed.
The regional office was officially inaugurated in 2015 by the then minister John Mutorwa.
The double-storey office complex accommodates all regional heads from the different directorates in the ministry.
The services offered range from ploughing to extension services, engineering, weeding, the provision of water, veterinary support and forestry services.
KENYA KAMBOWE
This is after Nored disconnected the electricity supply in July due to non-payment.
This was confirmed by Nored spokesperson Simon Lukas.
“What I can confirm is that Nored has cut the power to the office of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry in Rundu because of the non-payment of the account,” Lukas said.
He did not reveal the amount owed, citing Nored's client confidentiality policy.
Namibian Sun, however, understands that the power has been cut to several of offices belonging to the ministry, which are in arrears due to a shortage of funds. Attempts to get comment from the ministry proved futile.
On Monday when Namibian Sun visited the state-of-the-art N$27 million building in Rundu, employees were using their private laptops they had charged at home.
Office doors were left open to compensate for the lack of air-conditioning.
The employees said this has been the case for more than two months.
“What should we do? We are employed and we should show up and carry out our duties. We just have to do what we can, even if that means making sure you come with a fully-charged laptop, and once the battery loses its power, you quickly go home and charge it and return back to work,” one of the employees said.
The employees indicated that the ministry is aware of the situation and they remain hopeful that the situation will be addressed.
The regional office was officially inaugurated in 2015 by the then minister John Mutorwa.
The double-storey office complex accommodates all regional heads from the different directorates in the ministry.
The services offered range from ploughing to extension services, engineering, weeding, the provision of water, veterinary support and forestry services.
KENYA KAMBOWE
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