Key players in the country's fishing sector say they are indebted to the late President Hage Geingob for saving it from imminent collapse, especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geingob's intervention to keep the fishing sector running when most of the sectors were closing down saved jobs and the Namibian economy alike.

The fisheries sector is among Namibia's key foreign income earners and among the largest employers.

Namibia's Minister of Works and Transport and his Botswana counterpart are happy with the progress made so far with the implementation of the Trans-Kalahari Railway Line Project.

The two ministers briefed the media on the development at Swakopmund during a Joint Ministerial Committee meeting.

The bilateral Trans-Kalahari Railway Line is expected to link the Port of Walvis Bay via Gobabis to Botswana and the SADC to enhance trade in the region.

The increasing use of drugs and alcohol, especially among teenagers, has become a serious concern for residents of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund in the Erongo Region.

This was shared during the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Gender Equality, Social Development, and Family Affairs consultations on gender-based violence and femicide in the towns.

Committee chairperson Gotthard Kasuto says consultations follow a petition in 2020 by the Shut It All Down Movement to Parliament seeking an end to sexual violence and femicide.

The Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Joseph Shikongo, says police visibility will be increased on the streets across the country this festive season.

Lieutenant-General Shikongo says visitors and citizens alike need peace of mind and to feel safe as they wind up the year at holiday destinations of their choice.

The top cop led a night patrol to some of the crime hotspots in the coastal town of Swakopmund as part of the launch of the festive season operation in the town.