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Budget not so pro-poor after all |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:27 |
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Dear Editor,
This letter is for the attention of the Minister of Finance and Members of Parliament and it is on the existing statutory tax rates that I wish to write about. Could the above please explain why temporary workers are subjected to pay 17.5% income tax and thus not enjoy any tax relief which is crucial to survival these days? Why is there discrimination between full-time and part-time workers? Someone earning N$3,500.00 per month is supposed to pay N$107.48, but is taxed N$612.50 according to the provision in the Income Tax Act, a loss of N$505.02 per month and N$6 060.24 per annum for the tax payer.
Why should one wait a year to claim back from the Receiver of Revenue bearing in mind that no interest is accumulated? As a result, the above does not justify a term “pro-poor” National Budget. On a national scale it is normally the lowly paid who are appointed to jobs on a temporary basis.
How is it that temporary workers who are earning higher salaries, e.g. N$10 000.00 per month and should be taxed N$2 191.64, are in fact taxed N$1 750.00, which results in a loss of N$441.64 per month to the Receiver of Revenue. In this instance the statutory rates are not applied, but rather the 17.5% provision. Does it mean that the lowly paid should subsidiase the loss of the highly paid? As I understood it, the onus rests on the employer to ensure the correct tax deduction. Where do you draw the line?
A reply to the already exploited workers would be appreciated. William
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Last Updated on Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:39 |
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Kavango youth regional officer deserves to be fired |
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Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:18 |
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Dear Editor,
The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture Office in Rundu does not seem to function properly. The Youth Officer does not do her work at all, she is not friendly to the clients coming to this ministry and we the youth in Rundu are wondering why this office was opened here. Youth offices outside Rundu are even run better than the regional one.
Please can the Ministry not change this officer by moving her to another region and bringing us a new person because it seems she does not know her work at all? All she does is drive around in Government vehicles and do her private things.
Many young Rundu residents have come up with good project proposals and have consulted her for guidance and advice as our representative in the region, but she has failed to do anything. She just likes to chase people out of her office.
Please this is a waste of Government money. She must be called to order or be transferred to another office, because we are sick and tired of her behaviour. If you compare Kavango Region to other regions like Caprivi or Otjozondjupa in terms of youth programmes, you will see that there are no youth programmes going on in Kavango, and this is because the ministry does not assist us at all. Many of us have good programmes in our minds but there is no one to help us. This problem has been reported several times to the head office of the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture but no action has been taken up to now.
There are also some youth forums that are held and letters are sent to this office in order to inform the youth here but this is not done. Instead, these letters are only shown to friends and relatives. Please the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture must do something, we want changes in this region and we want to be involved in youth programmes like all the other regions. This will help prevent the increase in crime by the youth of Rundu.
Concerned Rundu Youth
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Last Updated on Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:39 |
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Okuryangava residents to stand up for their rights |
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 11:16 |
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Dear Sir,
In Windhoek’s, Okuryangava, Ongava Street, there are three (3) public taps which serve around 500 people. One tap was broken – it runs slowly – while another was removed, apparently because the community broke it and also, they “don’t go to meetings”. They are already living in shacks with no toilet facilities in some parts. That is Tobias Hainyeko Constituency and we can understand the political reason for frustrating the people to demonstrate against Councillor Erasmus Hendjala. t is already said that “when the elephants (politicians in this case) fight, it is the grass that suffers. Now we will die of dehydration and water-born diseases because of personal interests? In the Oshana Region, Oshakati residents have been told that the taps that operate on water metre cards cannot be fixed because the engineers are in South Africa and not here. From what and whose company do the water metres come from? That company renders a basic service which is already unaffordable. It was only trial and error. The Namibian Constitution’s Article 95 states: “The State shall actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people by adopting, inter alia, policies aimed at the following: (e) “ensure that every citizen has a right to fair and reasonable access to public facilities and services in accordance with the law”, (g) enactment of legislation to ensure that the unemployed, the incapacitated, indigent and the disadvantaged are accorded such social benefits and amenities as are determined by Parliament to be just and affordable with due regard to the resources of the State”. It is not too late we need to stand up and speak out for our basic rights.
Martha David |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:39 |
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Hwange electricity is for Namibia and Zimbabwe not Robert Mugabe! |
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Thursday, 31 January 2008 11:14 |
Dear editor,
ALL these people are wasting precious electricity from Zimbabwe by smsing unwarranted thoughtless criticism. This must stop since they are all wasting time and energy. The mobile phones they are using were charged by power from Zimbabwe and this paper they are reading is probably courtesy of Hwange coal. When people say Zimbabwe is under sanctions it is no joke. Why can’t the IMF, World Bank, the U.S or Europe fund a project which will help Zimbabweans [US$14 million] with their electricity needs? Isn’t it the same people preaching that Zimbabweans are being persecuted by Mugabe (President Robert)? The same Mugabe who is busy soliciting funds to revamp Hwange for the benefit of Zimbabwean and Namibian citizens, especially so that the Namibian newspaper’s can get electricity to attack the project? These western countries smile when they see power cuts in Zimbabwe and it is disheartening to hear some Namibians attributing the funding, as funding the Mugabe regime. Are Mugabe and Zanu PF consuming the whole 800MW from Hwange, possibly leaving two or three MW for Zimbabwe’s 14 million people and Namibia’s two million? People must think first! Now you know what it means when Pohamba (President Hifikepunye) and Dos Santos (Angolan President Eduardo) say sanctions on Zimbabwe must be lifted. These are the sanctions that make the West not to provide finance to help Zimbabweans. Why doesn’t Mr Gordon Brown (British Prime Minister) attend a conference meant to benefit the 800 million Africans on the pretext of a single man [Mugabe]. Is Mugabe the 800 million Africans? Brown doesn’t care about the 800 million, wake up! Isn’t it timely that the Interpol president has resigned? All of you critics must now apply for that top job since you seem to hold the world’s moral authority. Why don’t you become the world’s top policeman and say more about Darfur, floods in SADC (Southern African Development Community) and stop Namibian exports of uranium to the US since a peaceful country [Iran] is being threatened with nukes by the U.S. Uranium from Africa resulted in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]. The Kudu gas to power project now has some experts calling for its scrapping from the power generating list due to the high cost of hydrocarbons and its short lifespan [22 years] compared to Hwange which can last centuries. All this criticism is unwarranted. It is actually more productive to talk about how the funds were used, where the equipment was sourced and so on. Do not bite the hand that feeds you. Stop all this nonsense.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 07 February 2008 15:39 |
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