OMUNTELE -The councillor of Omuntele constituency Sackeus Nangula has called for the speedy implementation of the constituency finance act, which would allow each constituency to draft its own budget expenditure.
In the absence of the act, Nangula said, over the years it has been difficult to execute and implement developmental projects in constituencies because everything is centralised and have to go through the regional council and for final approval from the national level.
“We on the constituency level are doing the planning and the budget is done by someone on the national level without knowing what is really needed on the ground. So we want the finance act to be finalised so that each constituency can budget and plan effectively as per varying priorities for each,” stressed Nangula, although he said so far he is pleased with development in the constituency.
“I am dissatisfied with the slow implementation which is created by the central system. These resources must be decentralised so that every constituency plans and executes based on their priorities, as opposed to now when priorities are determined by others,” he said.
Some regional councils have in the past bemoaned the current system, saying some constituencies are developing and benefiting at the expense of other communities due to the issues of prioritising projects.
Furthermore, he expressed concern regarding the three-month drought relief interval for distributing food, saying the food being given is not enough to sustain them for such a long period. About 300 San community members are benefitting from this programme. He also touched on the issue of sanitation, saying there are few toilets in the area for the elderly and disabled.
In terms of sanitation, the regional council this year resolved to construct 110 toilets in the region, which will be equally divided among the 11 constituencies. Meaning, 10 toilets are to be built in Omuntele during this financial year.
Nangula also noted that there is an increasing number of disabled and orphans who do not have national documents – he thus appealed to the ministry of home affairs to do an outreach programme.
Omuntele has a population of about 17,000.
On the bright side, Nangula announced there are plans to upgrade to bitumen standard the Engoyi-Onanke, Omuthiya-Onanke and Onyati-Onyuulaye road.
“This will be an achievement – imagine driving from Tsumeb to Ondangwa, but you don’t find any tarred roads branching out,” he said.
“In general I think the constituency has slowly but surely developed infrastructure-wise. We have four MTC network towers making the constituency 100 percent accessible, while in terms of water, most villages have access to potable water and it’s only a fraction that is not yet connected but soon will be. Of the 26 schools in the constituency, I am happy to say 22 of these schools have been electrified,” stated Nangula when highlighting some developments attained after 28 years of independence.