The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resource paid a visit to the Otjozondjupa Region to familiarise itself with operations at various companies.

The charcoal industry and rural electrification top the list of concerns in the region.

At the start of its tour, the parliamentary committee made its first stop at the Office of the Otjozondjupa Governor, James Uerikua.

Uerikua informed the committee members of the struggles in the charcoal industry, which have led to veld fires in the region.

Workers in the charcoal industry in the region are also being exploited, he lamented as they are paid peanuts while working in health hazardous conditions.

"People are getting N$300, N$900 or whatever it is and all 300 people, the only thing they know is "ou bass", people are still living in a space where they tend to believe that the country is not free. We want the necessary arms of the law to be taking place."

The governor also informed the MPs of the need to increase the rural electrification budget to ensure that the programme is rolled out in all regions.

"Electricity these days is not a luxury, but an enabler of development, constituencies will be lacking behind in terms of development if electrification is not something that we prioritize, the regional capacity in terms of Cenored is stretched beyond limits because of lack of finance so the Ministry of Mines and Energy needs to double the efforts as far as electrification is involved."

The meeting that was scheduled between the committee and regional councillors did not take place, as only one councillor showed up.

It nonetheless met with Cenored where Chief Executive Officer Robert Kahimise gave a presentation on the operation of the company.

MPs were pleased with Cenored's social responsibility programmes. 

They were also presented with Cenored's last year's annual report.