The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) in the Hardap Region arrested 207 suspects in connection with 229 stock theft cases during the 2020/21 financial year.

Delivering his second State of the Region Address (SORA) at Mariental on Wednesday, Hardap Governor Reverend Salomon April said the 229 stock theft cases involved 1 973 stolen large and small livestock valued at N.dollars 5 million.

The police only managed to recover livestock worth N.dollars 970 300.

Meanwhile, the governor also announced that 105 male and 17 female suspects were arrested in connection with 91 drug-related crimes during the period under review, with 7 581 kilogrammes of cannabis worth N.dollars 75 810; 3 655 kilogrammes of skunk worth N.dollars 102 750; Mandrax tablets worth N.dollars 97 800 and 18 units of crack cocaine worth N.dollars 1 800 confiscated.

The governor said the crime rate across the 14 police stations in the region range from 49 per cent at Rehoboth, 22 per cent at Mariental with the lowest recorded of zero per cent at Derm and six per cent in Gibeon.

He added that 234 inmates at the Hardap correctional facility participated in the psychosocial rehabilitation programmes at the facility, which has saved the government over N.dollars 1 million with its horticulture and animal husbandry projects.

The projects are part of the government feeding programme for inmates and aim to promote self-sustainability.

‘The correctional facility should be commended for the initiative. Other correctional facilities such as at Swakopmund, Tsumeb and Lüderitz also benefit from the produce of the Hardap Region,” he said.

April went on to say that 20 boreholes were constructed at a cost of over N.dollars 5 million in the Gibeon, Rehoboth Rural and Rehoboth Urban East constituencies.

One borehole was rehabilitated at Karanas in the Rehoboth constituency for N.dollars 167 000, while two earth dams were rehabilitated at a cost of N.dollars 1 million at Fleyveld and Tafelkop. A further N.dollars 2.3 million was spent to rehabilitate water points across the region.

Source: Namibia Press Agency