Namibians who possess diplomatic, official, or service passports will no longer require visas to travel to Iran.
This was announced by the Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Peya Mushelenga, on Thursday when he issued the Cabinet decisions of the 10th decision-making meeting held on July 4, 2023.
Mushelenga said individuals in possession of diplomatic, official, or service passports will be granted a 30-day period starting from the date of entry as a mutual exemption between the two countries.
He also announced that Cabinet has instructed the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to collaborate with the Tsumeb Municipality to manage potential risks associated with contaminated potable water, specifically water contaminated with the Escherichia coli pathogen and Clostridium perfringens. This will be achieved, among other things, by protecting raw water supplies from human and animal waste and applying suitable methods such as membrane filtration processes, which are designed to remove enteric viruses or protozoa.
Additionally, Cabinet has authorised the Ministry of Health and Social Services to explore the possibility of resuming the Health Community Outreach Programme (HCOP) on a regular basis.
It furthermore granted approval to the resolution of the first National Conference on Human Wildlife and directed the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism to develop a five-year action plan for implementing the resolution within a three-month timeframe for Cabinet consideration.
Mushelenga further stated that Cabinet has approved the proposed grant funding formula breakdown for the school grant policy. The aim is to reduce existing inequities through an efficient and fair funding mechanism that ensures schools and their students from different socio-economic backgrounds have sufficient resources to fully participate in education.
The minister also announced that Cabinet has given its preliminary approval to a number of bills and referred them to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation for further examination and subsequent resubmission to the Deliberative Cabinet prior to tabling in the National Assembly. These include the Namibia Citizenship Amendment Bill and the Regularisation of Statutes for Certain Residents of Namibia.