Niël Terblanché
A DONATION of 500 tonnes of potatoes to the people of Namibia by the government of Malta should not be used to garner cheap political points.
Upon receiving the consignment of potatoes on behalf of the Namibian Government, the Erongo Regional Governor, Neville Andre, warned that the donated food should be distributed to people in need as soon as possible and that it should not be used for political capital by the various constituency councillors who would be responsible for distributing the food aid.
“The councillors that are responsible for the distribution should under no circumstances allow their share of the potato consignment to lie in the warehouse facilities for too long. The potatoes will spoil and will be of no use to the people in need if that happens,” he said.
Andre also urged people in the Erongo and Khomas regions that will benefit from the donation to consume the potatoes instead of trying to sell them. He said people should share what they don’t consume with others that need help.
“It would simply not be morally correct to sell food that was given to help the people that need it most,” he said.
According to the governor, the food aid came as a result of President Hage Geingob declaring a State of Emergency with regard to the reigning drought in May last year.
“At the time, the President requested Namibia’s cooperation partners to assist with food and other aid. In the meantime, the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the problem with food security and it is wonderful that the Maltese Government responded in this way,” he said.
Andre said inspectors from the Agronomic Board have evaluated the consignment that arrived in Namibia in refrigerated containers on 15 August and that distribution has already started.
“The Namibian Defence Force availed the manpower and trucks to immediately start distributing the potatoes. The content of ten of the containers will be distributed to 20 000 vulnerable households in the Erongo Region and the potatoes from the ten remaining containers will be distributed in the Khomas Region,” he said.
“People in Walvis Bay, Swakopmund and Arandis have already been identified and will receive their share of the potatoes soon,” he said.
The donation was made possible by negotiations between Ambassador Linda Scott, Namibia’s High Commissioner to England, and members of the Maltese Government.
The Maltese Government bought the consignment of potatoes from farmers on the island and through the intervention of Ambassador Scott was channelled to Namibia.
Ambassador Scott is also Namibia’s High Commissioner to Malta.
