The Namibian government will continue to encourage and support local investors to actively participate in the energy sector.

This was reiterated by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, at an information-sharing session at Keetmanshoop on the discovery of oil in the ||Kharas Region.

Alweendo says the discovery of oil offshore the Namibian southern coast—estimated at between 300 and 400 million barrels—and its successful development hold direct and indirect benefits for Namibians.

There is an urgent need to mobilize resources for the Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology, NIMT, to accommodate more students.

This was the observation by a delegation which comprised the Mayor of Swakopmund Dina Namubes, Councillor Blasius Goraseb and  Constituency Councillor Louisa Kativa that visited the two NIMT campuses at Arandis.

According to Goraseb, NIMT has the capacity to absorb the thousands of young people that didn't make it to university, saying that the will is there but the lack of resources is the biggest handicap.

The Namibian Police did not show up on Friday for the NIMT Northern Campus employees' demonstration in Tsumeb.

However, this did not stop the employees from marching to NIMT to hand over their petition in relation to their unpaid December salaries.

The NIMT Northern Campus employees who had planned to demonstrate from the UN Park had to change plans after their police escort failed to show up due to miscommunication.

They, however, continued to walk to NIMT and handed over their petition to management.

Employees of the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology have not received their salaries for December.

Workers held a countrywide demonstration to demand their salary payments.

At Arandis, workers marched from the shopping centre to one of the two campuses, at the town.

The employees are not only demanding their December salary which is usually paid late but also want contributions towards the medical aid and pension fund as well.

Amidst the labour unrest at NIMT, Executive Director Ralph Bussel stressed that the entity solely relies on the Namibia Training Authority and Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund, to support its operations.

However, budget cuts in recent years and a delay in making payments to NIMT, have further exacerbated the financial situation of the training institution.