Since 1 April 2004 the ministry of environment and tourism is handling the park usage and entry fees for all national government resorts itself and that the current fees remained the same. This follows a recent outcry of the public and the private tourism industry after Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) suddenly increased the rates at the beginning of this year. It also became public that NWR owes the Ministry some N$ 30 million, which is park entrance fees of the past 3 years, which were never paid over the Ministry. At all national resorts citizens with a Namibian passport get a 50% discount.

A company tasked with the assessment for the resource management of the Lower Orange River will hold public meetings next month and in June. According to Mike Luger for LOR Consultants, said the study and environmental aspects took longer than anticipated. Results are currently integrated into a main report and the formulation of recommendations. Namibia would like to build 2 small dams at the Orange River to extract more water for the grape industry. The Orange River also has great potential for tourism like river rafting, canoeing and fishing. Unfortunately, the boundary to South Africa has still not been defined, despite a joint commission to finalise it. In addition, the diamond industry also wants to expand and needs more water. Interested and affected parties can reach LOR via beckerw@mweb.com.na or mike.luger@shands.co.za for further details.