Over 250 delegates from African countries and abroad are expected in Swakopmund next week at an international conference dedicated to discuss aspects of harbours, port logistics, and transport modalities in the shipping sector. The Namibia Ports Authority (NamPort) will host the 2-day event, which also gives 50 transport companies the chance to showcase their services during an exhibition at the same occasion. The conference will feature 25 top conference speakers in global transport and logistics attended by a prestigious and impressive gathering of senior executive delegates from the world’s leading shippers, cargo owners, importers/exporters, shipping lines, freight forwarders, logistics companies, ports, terminal operating companies, railway operators, port equipment and services suppliers.

The "4th Intermodal Africa 2006 Namibia Exhibition and Conference" will take place at the Swakopmund Hotel & Entertainment Centre from 1 to 3 February. "Intermodal Africa" is today the largest annual Container Ports and Terminals Operations Exhibition and Conference to take place on the African Continent. In 2007, the event will take place in Durban, South Africa and in 2008 in Accra, Ghana.

Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) strongly condemned the Opuwo Town Council, the Kunene Regional Council as well as the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for their apparent tolerance of, inability or reluctance to remove the rubbish heaps all over the town of Opuwo. Located some 700 km northwest of Windhoek, Opuwo is the regional capital of the Kunene Region, one of the most marginalized parts of the country. Councillors from the Congress of Democrats (CoD), DTA, the ruling SWAPO Party and NUDO collectively run the Town Council. "We call upon the Opuwo town council to urgently clear all the rubbishes from all the streets. When you walk throughout the town, the ugly sight of bottles, plastics, paper and rubbish constantly greet you. We warn that this state of affairs poses a very serious health hazard to the residents", warned NSHR’s Kunene Head Regional Manager Rev. Daniel Muharukua this week at Opuwo.

The right to a safe and clean environment has very positive bearing upon a spectrum of other basic civil and political rights as well as economic social and cultural rights. Such rights are fully guaranteed in the Namibian Bill of Rights as well as several international human rights treaties and norms to which Namibia is a state party. NSHR called on the government to step in and ensure that all the rubbish and other dangerous pollutants are immediately removed from the town "before it is too late".

Former long-serving NBC manager Rector Mutelo was appointed as executive of corporate communications & marketing at Nedbank. He was in broadcasting for the past 24 years and holds a Master’s in management from Boston University. For 18 years he served the NBC in various senior and executive management positions. Mutelo was general manager for radio services, technical services, and finally general manager for corporate marketing, communication and business development at the NBC until December 2005. Nedbank annoucned his appointment on Tuesday.