Otjozondjupa Governor John ||Khamuseb has said that his office will work hard in addressing challenges facing residents of the Osire Refugee Settlement.

These challenges include the education of farmworkers' children who are denied access to the settlement school, sanitation, electricity supply, and proper health facilities.

He addressed a stakeholders meeting at the refugee camp.

||Khamuseb said regional intervention is needed to help the settlement and surrounding areas to develop and benefit from government services.

The refugee camp has been in existence since 1992 but is not gazetted under a regional or local authority, which leaves communities not included in rural development programmes.

Regarding the issue of Namibian farmworkers' children being denied access to Osire Settlement School and the lack of hostel facilities, Khamuseb stated, "The majority of these kids are currently not attending school because they are working on farms. So, what I really would like is the possibility of prefabricated hostel facilities that can be established, whereby maybe 25 boys and 25 girls could be accommodated in those facilities that are maybe a classroom size. This will enable these children to gain school entry. Going to school is not a privilege of a few, but it is a constitutional right of every learner who is 18 years and under."

The governor also recommended the recruitment of additional medical staff, volunteer teachers, and appropriate housing structures for the settlement.

A report, he says, will be compiled and shared with identified relevant ministries for action.