The Kavango West Region leadership has halted the inauguration of the Nkurenkuru Vocational Training Centre (VTC) which it says cannot take place before completion.
The decision was communicated at a leadership engagement.
Nkurenkuru VTC commenced operations in June last year and admitted its first group of trainees in March this year.
The center was supposed to be inaugurated on the 18th of September; however, the regional leadership is of the opinion that the project be inaugurated only once all requirements have been met.
Councillor of the Nkurenkure Local Authority Gabriel Tenga explained the situation.
“As we speak right now, you can see the building that was built for us. The first contractor left the project. I was told that he was not complying with the requirements and was working slowly. That is why the contractor had to be changed. The message was that the contractor was unable to deliver, which is why he left the project incomplete for almost two years; and if I’m not mistaken.”
Governor of Kavango West Verna Sinimbo also expressed her disappointment in the project.
“According to our discussion last year, some of these things that are appearing here were not supposed to be considered at this stage. By today, we were supposed to be updated on what had been done, including the upgrading and all of that. But if we are still honestly talking about the money. I don’t know whether the money only became available now, before you came, or what is happening, because it was not clear to me. I know it was in the media, and I’m not going to shy away from repeating it: it is half-cooked. We should make sure that we upgrade this center to reach the desired standards.”
Councillor of the Tondoro Constituency Joseph Sikongo raised questions regarding available funds.
“We are looking at this budget that is coming in now. How quickly are we going to implement and complete it, considering that the year is coming to an end? That is what we, as a region, need to look into. How are you going to conduct the bidding process, and how long is it going to take?”
The center is currently awaiting the Safety and Health Evaluation Certificate from the Ministry of Justice and Labour Relations.
The certificate is required from the Namibia Training Authority (NTA) to finalise the registration.
Once NTA registration is concluded, the center will proceed with accreditation processes through the Namibia Qualifications Authority.