The Kunene Region has resorted to hiring private transport for the distribution of drought relief in the region.

This was revealed by the Kunene Regional Governor, Marius Sheya, following concerns raised by Khorixas Constituency Councillor, Sebastian !Gobs, who last month indicated that the distribution programme is hampered by a lack of transportation.

The Kunene Region accounts for close to 30,000 people who have been affected by the prolonged and extreme drought since 2013, which has put a strain on food security and agricultural activities.

Housing and land delivery for low-income earners in the Kunene Region, including the upgrading of the informal settlements, is taking shape.

At Khorixas, 445 plots were handed over to the residents of the Ada-||Naugu informal settlement to build their houses.

The allocated plots are for 1,025 applicants on a waiting list.

Of these, 56 are categorised for pensioners and 22 for people living with disabilities, while 104 are for the members of the Shack Dwellers Federation, all sold at N$15,00 per square metre.

Residents of Kunene are concerned about their safety due to poor road infrastructure and overflowing rivers during the rainy season.

They shared their dissatisfaction with Vice President Nangolo Mbumba at Opuwo. The residents requested that the government construct bridges at river crossings to enable them to access services during the rainy season.

A case in point is the roads that connect Okangwati and Etanga to Otjinungua via Osana. There is also a need to set up bridges in some areas that are washed away during the rainy season on the road from Opuwo to Sesfontein.

Traditional authorities in the Kunene Region have commended the government for its continued efforts to provide relief food to drought-afflicted people in the region.

Kunene is one of the regions that has suffered severe drought in recent years, and the majority of the inhabitants depend on the government's Drought Relief Programme. While commending the government for the assistance, they feel the long-term solution is the setting up and improvement of community gardens to empower people to produce their own food.

High cases of teenage pregnancy among girls aged between 13 and 19 years old in Kamanjab, Kunene Region, remain a burning social issue that needs concerted efforts to address.

These are the views of Deputy Minister of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication, and Social Welfare, Bernadette Jagger, when she addressed the Women and Girls Conference on Teenage Pregnancy held yesterday.

She highlighted that the escalation of such social issues is driven by poverty, peer pressure, sexual abuse, a lack of parental involvement, and harmful cultural beliefs.

Namibia's conservation expert, Dr. Philip Stander, says research is crucial to the conservation of endangered desert lions.

Dr. Stander has therefore called on youth to take up nature conservation studies to find solutions to human-wildlife conflict.

Born and bred in Namibia, Dr. Stander has been living in the desert for more than 25 years.

When it comes to conservation, the Skeleton Coast Park in the Kunene Region is his playground, and this is the only place in the world where desert lions are found.

Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Economics and Public Administration are concerned about equipment left behind by diamond exploration companies in the Skeleton Coast Park.

The committee visited a diamond exploration site at Mowe Bay in the Kunene Region.

Chief Diamond Inspector Patrick Elungu explained that two exploration licences were awarded to two Namibian companies for onshore and offshore activities.

Elungu added that the companies have so far not found viable diamond deposits.

The Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy says there are no diamonds at the Old Toscanini mine in Skeleton Coast Park, in the Kunene Region.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, companies have been exploring diamonds in the area since the 1950s.

Ya Otto Investment Holdings is the third company to be given two exploration licences, and the ministry says activities started in November last year until March 2023, when the licence expired.

The residents of Okakondorokua Village in the Epupa Constituency, Kunene Region, are among those who benefited from the N$34 million budget aimed at the construction of water infrastructure and now have access to clean drinking water.

Okakondorokua Village is situated some 40 kilometres from Okanguati in the mountainous areas of the Epupa Constituency.

Due to bad roads leading to the village, contractors have been abandoning the sites where the boreholes were supposed to be drilled.

The Governor of Kunene Region has implored all councils, business people, communities, and youth to participate in the opportunities and value chains being created by the new economic drivers.

Marius Sheya, who was speaking during the State of the Region Address, called for collective synergies as the region marches towards economic emancipation and creates pockets of hope for the locals.