Works Ministry neglects Meteorological Service

WINDHOEK, 22 DEC – The building of the Namibia Meteorological Service (NMS) which falls under the Ministry of Works and Transport, and its security technology are in a dire state.
A recent visit by Nampa to the office in the capital revealed floors littered by centipedes, mouldy walls, overgrown weeds, dusty floors and countertops, a constantly running tap and an unattended server room.
In an interview with Nampa, NMS Deputy Director, Frans Uirab maintained that the building was in great condition, however, upon being presented with photo evidence, admitted that the building had faults.
When asked about the unattended open server room, containing data storage computers and other technological devices, Uirab was seemingly unaware.
“As head of this place I am always saying that the server room should be locked. So I am very surprised that it was open,” he said.
The deputy director also revealed that in late 2017 and again in early 2018, the weather service appealed to the ministry to replace non-operational security technology, but the requests were not attended to.
“We wrote to the ministry and said they need to maintain the security services because of the worry of the equipment that is here. We are providing a citizen service and if one computer is stolen, the service will break down and that’s our concern. That is why we wrote that proposal,” Uirab said.
He added that procurement officer at the ministry, Hilya Bronn communicated to him that the ministry will start advertising for a company to do the necessary replacements.
Bronn confirmed this to Nampa.
Permanent Secretary Willem Goeiemann, to whom the requests were submitted, confirmed that he had received the proposal for the replacement of the security equipment.
Futhermore, he told Nampa that the ministry is in the process of addressing the issues, but that it will take some time because of financial issues, which he did not delve further into. – NAMPA