The Namibian Police Force (NamPol) has reached out to fuel suppliers in the country to provide them with fuel as police fuel station reserves have run dry due to a slashed budget.

Inspector General of the NamPol, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, on Monday confirmed to Nampa that: ‘The problem is there, we recently had a serious situation particularly in Erongo and Oshana Region, while other regions were almost also on red, with some of their pumps running dry,” he said.

Everyone however knows that the police budget was seriously cut but it is not necessarily because people want to cut it, it is due to the financial and economic challenges and the situation that the country and world at large are going through due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected many activities, he noted.

Ndeitunga added that the police through the Ministry of Home Affairs, Safety and Security (MHASS) have made arrangements with fuel suppliers to have their fuel stations refuelled and then only make future payments.

“It is really frustrating when officers are coming to the extent of not having fuel and is even more serious when it comes to a situation where they are not able to move to a crime scene because of the situation,” he said and urged police officers in all regions to economise the fuel once received and make sure that vehicles only move when it is absolutely necessary.

“We should take care of the resources placed in our hands and save them for the emergencies and priorities of the force,” the IG emphasised.

Ndeitunga added that the budget cuts have also affected the repairing and purchasing of vehicles for the force.

“We however understand that the government has got many children to feed and we are not the only ones facing these cuts. So we are going to try and do more with the little we are receiving.”

The MHASS has received N.dollars 5,7 billion for the 2021/22 financial year compared to N.dollars 5,9 billion for the 2020/21 financial year.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency