A recreation and leisure facility that goes by the name of Caribbean Recreation was on Saturday opened for the public at Oshakati, with Industrialisation and Trade Minister Lucia Ipumbu cutting the ribbon.

While the facility, that boasts of swimming pools, tennis, basketball and volley ball courts, as well as a restaurant, used to be a recreation and relaxation spot for white people in Oshakati during the time before Independence, during the period of Independence the facility fell into neglect, disuse and dilapidation.

Now Oshakati Town Council, the owner of the place situated just a stone’s throw away from their offices, decided to revamp and modernize it and make it productive again.

As the keynote speaker, Minister Ipumbu said that it was the first time she was officiating at an occasion of entertainment, recreation and leisure.

“I want you the young people to listen to me very well. At your age we didn’t have recreation facilities of this nature,” Ipumbu said. “Back in the day Caribbean Recreation was a place next to Cascades, near Oshakati State Hospital where I was born.”

Ipumbu said further that the facility now “offers so many opportunities which were missing before” in the town of Oshakati.

Steven Nangolo, a business partner of Aina Shaanika, owners of Aisha Investment cc which is managing the operations of the facility, said that with the opening of the centre on 13 October 2022, a new page has opened for the youth of Oshakati and nearby towns and villages.

“By opening this centre we were motivated by the fact that most young people have been resorting to drugs and alcohol abuse. We will therefore come up with creative activities targeting the youth so that the centre will contribute positively to residents of Oshakati, and ultimately make them productive citizens of this country,” Nangolo said.

“We will also send out invitations to schools in our surrounding for them to hold bootcamps and other events at the recreation park here so that it will be a hive of activity.”

The centre also has space where several corporate companies and also local SMEs pitched their gazebos to display their goods and services.

Caribbean Recreation Centre is situated between the High Court in Oshakati on the East, Pama Pharmacy on the West and Multipurpose Youth Centre on the South side.

In the photo: Industrialisation and Trade Minister Lucia Ipumbu speaking to youths about the importance of Caribbean Recreation.