The Ministry's job, not that of NWR

ZELNA HENGARI, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF NAMIBIA WILDLIFE RESORT WRITES:

I would like to thank Mr. K. A. Bause as a concerned citizen, for his letter in the Republikein of 19 May 2017 with the heading “NWR-please visit Sossusvlei”.

To respond to Mr. Bause's understandable concerns; Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) was established by an Act of Parliament, the Namibia Wildlife Resorts Company Act (No.3 of 1998) with the mandate of running the tourism facilities within the protected areas of Namibia. Our only shareholder is the Government of the Republic of Namibia, with the current line Ministry being the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). It is for this reason that sometimes, there is a misunderstanding about our mandate and that of the Ministry.

When it comes to the National Parks, MET is mandated to maintain the facilities outside the resorts, i.e. gravel roads, toilets, road signs, etc., excluding the tourism establishments, which NWR is tasked with. Therefore, the maintenance of public toilets outside the resorts does not fall within our mandate as NWR.

I however acknowledge that as a client you should not have to experience something like this. Therefore, I will share your concerns with the Ministry, if they have not already taken note of them.

I hope this experience does not deter you from visiting all our other facilities spread across this beautiful land.