Maria David
THE Ondangwa Town Council tabled its provisional budget of N$170 million for the financial year 2022/23 on Wednesday, setting aside the bulk for land development and infrastructure.
The budget decreased by N$2 million from N$172 million in the 2021/22 financial year and is subject to approval by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development.
Tabling the budget, Ondangwa Mayor Paavo Amwele said council tariffs remain unchanged amidst the outbreak of Covid-19 that affected the economy.
“However, the council will keep an eye on our bulk services suppliers such as NamWater and NORED to see if they are planning heavy increases in their rates,” he said, adding that once that is done, the council might reconsider some of its prices to avoid selling water at a loss.
Amwele stated that though there is a decrease from N$172 million to N$170 million, the overall development budget for the council increased from N$43 million to N$52 million during this financial year.
He said they also face a decrease in the government subsidy which has been declining over the years and again this year to only N$946 000 from N$4 million in the last financial year.
Amwele said the council saw a need for infrastructure and land development in the town.
“As Council, we decided to sacrifice on our spending and cut on most of our operations such as fuel, overtime and the savings used for the town’s development project,” he said. Amwele said N$26 782.04 is to be taken from their own reserves.
He added that the council expects to generate about N$45.7 million from the sales of water, N$32.2 million from rates and taxes, and close to N$16 million from sales of erven.
