Oshana Governor, Elia Irimari, is disappointed with the failure of some local authorities to attend the Regional Validation workshop on the Integrated Regional Land Use Plan held at Oshakati recently.

Irimari expressed disappointment during the opening of the Integrated Regional Land Use Plan Validation Workshop, which was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform in conjunction with the Oshana Regional Council.

He particularly referred to the absence of the Ondangwa and Ongwediva town councils.

"The towns are the most affected by this and towns are not part and parcel of this development because, first of all, you need to build a foundation and it will be through this. If towns are not here, where is Ondangwa? I do not see anybody here. Ongwediva, where are they? Are any representatives from Ongwediva here? Eheke settlement, for example, is here. Uukwangula settlement, thank you very much. People, this is a serious thing. Those of you who have done urban and rural planning will be able to understand the concern I'm having. There are other issues, but this one is the basis for development in this region, whether you want it or not. It is on this basis that we should take this matter seriously and convey my message that I did not take this matter lightly."

The purpose of the workshop was for the participants to validate their inputs as they submitted them during the workshop held in February this year.

The subsequent workshop follows the launch of the National Integrated Land Use Plan by Calle Schlettwein, the Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, in November last year.

Hence the need for all the stakeholders to be present in the workshop in order for the ministry to get validated regional inputs, which would pave the way for the next stage of the development of the Land Use Plan.