The Khorixas Town Council is owed N.dollars 159 010 in rates and taxes by residents and businesses, its chief executive officer, Andreas |Howoseb has said.

|Howoseb in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday said residents owe the council about N.dollars 95 379 while businesses owe an amount of N.dollars 63 631 for rates and taxes as at end of May 2021.

“The council is encouraging all residents to settle their outstanding accounts and to pay their monthly bills promptly. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, about 40 per cent of residents are promptly honouring their municipal debt while 60 per cent of the businesses community honour their debt on a monthly basis,” he said.

|Howoseb also said about 40 per cent of ministries honour their debts while payments by lodges have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Nampa, businessman Japheth Nekondo said his business has not been productive since the outbreak of the virus and has affected monthly council bill payments.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us negatively in terms of generating income for my business. Our daily income is not as good as before the outbreak of the virus. I went to the council to make arrangements to pay off my rates and taxes that I owe. Once everything returns to normal I will be able to honour my debts by paying a much higher amount than I am paying now to ensure that my debts are paid off,” Nekondo said.

Maria |Nanus, a resident of the town, said she was let go from a lodge where she was employed because of the reduction in activity in the tourism industry due to the pandemic.

“That affected me in not paying my municipal debt. I however managed to arrange with the council to pay off my debt as soon as I get some income from a business I started recently,” she said.

Source: Namibia press Agency