Ongwediva tables N$192,4 million budget

The town of Ongwediva will operate for the next 12 months on a budget of N$192,4 million.

Ongwediva Mayor Mr Taarah Shalyefu said at a special council meeting on 28 May that most of the town’s budget will be funded by the town’s operational revenue (services provided to residents such as for water consumption, electricity, refuse removal, etc.), amounting to N$114,9 million.

The next biggest contributor to the budget is the town’s own reserves, amounting to N$64,4 million.

Other contributors to the budget are the Government subsidy of N$4 million, refunds by Roads Fund Administration of N$3,1 million, sale of erven of N$3 million, contribution from Build Together Fund of N$2,1 million, and contribution from Social Housing Fund of N$0,9 million.

Shalyefu stated in his budget presentation speech that the 2024/25 budget will finance developmental projects of the town such as on land delivery, provision of services, infrastructure upgrading and repair, upgrading of buildings and related infrastructure, and acquiring of machinery, tools, information communication technology equipment and office furniture.

The upgrading of Abraham Nyambali Street from gravel to bitumen standard at a cost of N$10 million is the project with the biggest share in the budget, followed by the provision of bulk water storage and supply infrastructure for Omatando Extensions to the tune of N$6,5 million.

The next costly project is the provision of water and sewer reticulation infrastructure at Extension 12, and also the development of a multi-purpose sports field (Phase 2,) as well as the refurbishment of water towers within the Council’s premises, all at a cost of N$4,3 million each.

The second phase of the construction of a leisure park at Extension 11 receives N$2,2 million from the budget.

“Land delivery remains the utmost priority for Council in line with the national development agenda,” Shalyefu said. “However, planning and township establishment is a prerequisite for land delivery which in turn is a prerequisite for housing and infrastructure development.”