Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, is urging local authorities countrywide to avoid handing over residents’ accounts to debt collectors and is encouraging them to use their own internal mechanisms to manage and recover municipal debts.
Uutoni made these remarks at the official opening ceremony of the Ondangwa Trade and Industrial Exhibition (OTIE 2024) on Thursday, against the backdrop of recent developments in which the Walvis Bay Municipality terminated a contract with RedForce debt collectors but lost the subsequent court case.
He urged the Ondangwa town council leadership and all local authorities countrywide to continually engage their respective communities, especially on matters related to settling municipal debts.
“I strongly appeal to you not to resort to handing over your residents to third parties such as debt collectors but rather to use your internal mechanisms to manage and recover municipal debts,” he said.
Uutoni recognized the importance of the OTIE and applauded the town council for the initiative that boosts the local economy.
He pointed out that expos and trade fairs are interventions aimed at achieving specific objectives, such as providing excellent platforms for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), government ministries, agencies, and corporates to network, benchmark, and promote their goods and services to a larger audience in one spot.
The minister said that the OTIE aids in ensuring business sustainability in Ondangwa and the Oshana region as a whole and acts as a meeting point to render much-needed services in a manner termed as “bringing services closer to the people.” He added that government ministries and agencies continue to embrace the opportunity offered by the OTIE to bring much-needed information and services to the people. He mentioned examples such as the Ministries of Home Affairs and Immigration; Industrialization, Trade, and SME Development; Health and Social Services, as well as NamRA and UNAM.
“Government must be at the forefront in this aspect as it enhances its image of good governance to the populace,” Uutoni said.
Uutoni expressed a strong belief that the OTIE will greatly boost the town’s local economy by creating a platform for local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and introducing other investors to opportunities to invest in Ondangwa Town.
The OTIE was hosted for the first time in 2011 and is now in its 11th edition, having skipped three years — 2020 to 2022 — due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uutoni applauded the Mayor and the leadership of Ondangwa for their persistence and sailing the ship amidst heavy storms.
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