Opuwo seeks permanent infrastructure for trade fair

WINDHOEK, 30 MAY  – The Opuwo Town Council (OTC) could benefit from the construction of a town hall as it currently spends close to N.dollars 1.6 million annually on temporary infrastructure for the hosting of events.
This was revealed to Nampa on Tuesday by Masatu Thom, who is a member of the Opuwo Trade Fair organisation committee.
He said this money could be spent on other developments in the town if there was a permanent place for the event to take place.
The Opuwo Trade Fair for the past seven years has been held at the Newman Katuta Stadium.
“We have to spend money on hiring tents, connecting electricity and supplying water for the exhibitors at the stadium, but if we have a permanent structure, we would be spending less than this,” he explained.
Echoing Thom’s sentiments was Opuwo Mayor Albert Tjiuma, who added that the lack of a well-equipped trade fair centre is indeed hampering its success and that the OTC has availed land for the trade fair to put up a permanent structure.
The issue of a permanent trade fair structure was mentioned by the event’s patron, Obeth Kandjoze during the official opening of the fifth annual trade fair, where he said that the lack of these structures robs the organisers of an opportunity to invest in such an event.
The stadium, according to Sean Makono from the OTC’s local economic development division, is inconvenient in a number of ways. It amongst others lacks ablution facilities.
He told this agency Skorpion Zinc Mine has donated N. dollars 110 000 for the fencing off of a piece of land for the trade fair and the construction of an ablution block.
Such a centre would also be used for events such as conferences and recreational activities, while also offering stalls to be rented out to local small to medium enterprises, Makono said.
While he could not say what the exact cost of the centre would be, Makono said the OTC is planning to build it in phases, with the first phase which will be the main hall, estimated at N.dollars 3 million.

NAMPA