Welcome to PLUS online

The chief executives of municipalities gathered in Windhoek this week to discuss an action plan and methodology how to plan for the impact of HIV/Aids on municipal staff and the residents of towns. The methodology in the form of a working document or "toolkit" developed by SIAPAC, will enable thorough assessment in all sectors, help prepare action plans in the case of loss of skilled and qualified municipal staff, the affordability of municipal services for residents in lieu of Aids, which causes increasing unemployment, poverty and the inability of households to pay for water and electricity, said Randolf Mouton of the consulting agency SIAPAC. The officials further discussed that all town and village councils in Namibia should draw up such assessments and action plans as it would deepen their knowledge about what was really going on in their towns and to have their programmes dovetail into the national Aids programmes.

According to Mouton, the municipality of Grootfontein had completed its plan, while Witvlei, Gobabis and Keetmanshoop was in the making, funded by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

According to Johan Colesky, senior environment and health officer at the Grootfontein municipality, the town had 14 000 inhabitants, the majority being soldiers living in the army headquarters and 25 000 people lived in the district. About 30 percent of them were HIV-positive, a shocking statistic. "Action is necessary, we assessed the number of orphans, unemployed people and households that cannot afford to pay municipal bills", he told PLUS.

Apart from the Association of Local Authorities (ALAN), Namibian towns are also linked to the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal leaders on Aids in Africa (AMICAALL), with its secretariat based in Windhoek and supported by the UN. This organisation has the enormous task to reach out to all towns and cities in Africa in the fight against Aids.