The Swakopmund Municipality, through the Mayoral Development Fund, has donated N$200,000 to all schools in Swakopmund.

Mayor Dina Namubes believes education is an important tool to eradicate poverty.

The donation was handed over at a ceremony attended by all the beneficiary schools.

Swakopmund has 20 public and private schools.

Over the year, the Mayoral Fund donated N$1,000 to each of the schools, which is to become an annual contribution to the awarding of the best performers.

Regional leadership in the Kavango East Region met with the business community to discuss how to better improve local economic growth and development.

Referred to as the Mayoral Business Forum, the platform brings the local business community under one roof to, amongst other things, foster strong bonds and promote a unified business spirit. This is particularly important ahead of one of the region's biggest events, the Rundu Annual Trade Fair, next month.

The Erongo Regional Council has received N$1.2 million from the central government to support development in rural areas.

Its Chairperson, Benitha Imbamba, says this is an addition to another N$1.2 million the Council budgeted for the current financial year.

Imbamba revealed that about N$961,000 is budgeted for the rural sanitation programme from the council's own funds.

She says the council is busy constructing dry pit latrines to improve sanitation in rural areas.

The Mayor of Swakopmund, Dina Namubes, says informal trading plays a crucial role in fostering local economic development.

Namubes further highlighted its substantial impact as a catalyst for combating poverty and unemployment in rural areas.

She said this during the reopening of the Kavita Arts and Craft Park.

Kavita Park is strategically located at the heart of Swakopmund town, flanked by hotels and guesthouses, for the local community to exhibit their products to tourists.

The ǃNamiǂNûs Constituency Office has embarked on self-help community development projects that seek to make a difference and improve the lives of the residents.

The office, in partnership with Kelp Blue, will soon start training 10 youth on crop production at Luderitz.

Regional Councillor Suzan Ndjaleka said Kelp Blue, an aquaculture company, is growing and managing underwater forests in the southern coastal town.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism is developing a five-year National Human-Wildlife Conflict Action Plan.

The action plan comes after the Cabinet's approval of the resolutions of the first National Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management that was held earlier this year.

Cabinet directed the ministry to develop a five-year action plan for implementation of the resolution within three months.

The Minister for Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, has urged leaders to set aside their political differences and prioritise timely service delivery and development.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for new houses at Bukalo, Uutoni highlighted that internal conflicts among leaders hinder development, leading residents to blame the government.

Residents of Maalo Village in the Zambezi Region are appealing for the construction of a borehole and latrines promised to them over two years ago.

Maalo Village is located about five kilometres from Muyako.

The village has about 15 households.

The majority of the residents here were left behind in 1989 when others moved to Muyako due to harsh weather conditions.

Simwaza's family stayed behind, literally making Maalo a Family Village.

Otjombinde Councillor Wenzel Kavaka is pleased with the progress made in developing the new settlement, Eiseb 10 Growth Point.

Developments include a livestock auction pen and the construction of an oxidation pond.

Eiseb 10 Growth Point is a remote area, but services are now reaching the community.

Kavaka says that given the good number of livestock in the area, the newly constructed auction pen will benefit farmers immensely and cut costs, as farmers had to travel more than 200 kilometres to the nearest pen.

The State House has extended a message of gratitude to President Geingob for his exceptional leadership.

In a statement, the State House said that on June 18, 1989, after 27 years in exile fighting for the liberation of Namibia, President Geingob led the first group of senior Swapo freedom fighters back to Namibia.

They would later play a pivotal role in the transition of Namibia to independence in 1990 and the socio-economic development of the Namibian people.