Oshakati Customs Office resembles scrap yard

SHAKATI, 11 MAY  – The Oshakati Customs and Excise Regional Office of the Ministry of Finance is struggling to dispose of impounded cars held there for over 10 years.
The erf of the office situated near the town’s open market, now resembles a scrap yard and is covered by overgrown weeds and grass.
Approached for comment on Tuesday, Deputy Minister of Finance Natangwe Ithete pointed out that the grounded cars are all more than eight years old and some have been kept there for more than 10 years.
Ithete said most of the vehicles are kept there as evidence in pending court cases. Some of them are to be disposed of for now being outdated and no longer allowed by the law to be auctioned off.
“It is worse at Oshikango, where you even find trucks which are in a dilapidated state,” Ithete explained.
He agreed it is a worrisome situation, displaying a bad picture and is tarnishing the image of the customs and excise office.
Ithete indicated that his office has taken up the matter with other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development in order to find legal means on how to dispose of the cars.
“We want legal means that authorise us to sell them just as scrap materials to private garages which rebuild vehicles in a homemade fashion,” stated the deputy minister.
Most of the vehicles grounded at Oshakati have registration number plates of foreign countries such as Angola and South Africa.
NAMPA