Local Business Challenged to Plough Back into The Community

By: Uakutura Kambaekua
Local businesses, especially those that benefit from the Kunene Regional Council contracts and tenders have been challenged to plough back into the communities they operate from as this will in turn assist the region in attaining accelerated transformation and growth.
Kunene leadership held its fifth ordinary regional council meeting last week in which councillors were seeking ways to address the region’s education predicaments amongst other issues. The council has reiterated its unending support in providing funding for students who have been accepted at a national technical institution (NIMT) through the Kunene Regional Development Fund.
In an interview with Eagle FM, Khorixas constituency councillor Sebastian !Gobs said that local companies who have been benefiting from the council projects and tenders by making big money and shying away from investing back into the communities should start showing up when the need arises.
!Gobs said that sustainability is paramount for the smooth flow of any governance and thus it should be everyone’s responsibility to contribute towards regional development.
“When there are some projects that are advertised from the regional council side, we consider those businesses that are registered within the region first. Some of them are also getting tenders to the tones of millions from the Kunene regional council. They have to plough back as a form of social responsibility from their incomes. The project is within the region, thus the community has to benefit. They cannot just take those millions and invest in another region,” charged !Gobs.
!Gobs said it would be comprehensible if some of these companies could maybe at least have plans of setting up companies that will in turn provide jobs to the masses. He also called on the companies that benefit from council contracts to assist the region in addressing the education predicaments by assisting students with funding and supporting climate change initiatives.
“One would understand if they say that they will be setting up big industries within the region with whatever they are benefiting from the project. Local businesses that are getting tenders should plough back into the community in support of these climate initiatives, education and so forth,” he said.
Queried if his request would be tantamount to a conflict of interest, !Gobs said that this is not a direct request from the council but rather for a specific item such as the current education fund predicament.
“If it was direct, that would mean something that they have to give to the regional council then yes, but this is something, a broad setup. It’s a specific item that the council is going to address, which is education. So within the region that they are operating through these tenders or projects, are the same people within the region that they are going to assist, especially in terms of education,” noted !Gobs.
He further maintained that these donations will make a huge impact on the region’s development while also aiding the region in attaining its mandated goals and not always relying on the government.