Different stakeholders, amongst those the Office of the Kunene Region Governor and the regional council, have reiterated their commitment to foster support during the drought period to affected communities under a constituted task team.
Kunene Governor, Marius Sheya shared these remarks while delivering the State of the Region Address (SORA) in Opuwo on Wednesday, noting that his office and the regional council constituted a task team on mitigating drought with key government offices, ministries, agencies (OMAs) and different stakeholders such as farmers’ unions and traditional authorities engaging regularly to coordinate, mobilise resources, monitor and evaluate the drought situation.
Sheya said the region is currently on the cusp of its seventh consecutive drought, adding that the five constituencies (Opuwo Urban, Opuwo Rural, Epupa, Khorixas and Sesfontein) have been severely affected.
He lauded the government for coming to the rescue of the communities and their livestock since 2019 by availing N.dollars 21 million to the Kunene Region for water provision, where 16 boreholes were drilled, 19 water points installed and 18 boreholes rehabilitated.
Describing other challenges facing the region, Sheya also reiterated that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unimaginable damage to socio-economic structures, compelling the regional leadership to reprioritise and redirect resources to curb the spread of the virus.
Sheya commended the frontline health workers, saying they continue to inspire and that their bravery has given people hope, in addition to saving lives.
The governor added that the government is “relentlessly” trying to strike a balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods.
He further reported that the region has thus far tested 13 492 people and of those, 2 653 tested positive. It also recorded 52 deaths relating to the virus, while 2 408 patients recovered and 87 cases remain active.
Sheya added that 9 003 people out of 91 000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region received the COVID-19 vaccine, translating to nine per cent, which is way below the region’s 70 per cent vaccination target.
He thus called upon all eligible residents to get vaccinated, saying that over the next few weeks, the region will intensify and roll out a vaccination programme to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
