Development Bank helps with community health and safety in Ohangwena
The Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) has sponsored eight toilets for the Ohadiwa ya Kapombo village in the Ohangwena Region. The facilities are expected to materially improve community health and safety in the village.
This move is part of the bank’s initiatives to foster enterprise development, skills development, environmental and biodiversity management, community safety and health management, education, and poverty alleviation.
Speaking at the official handover of the facilities, DBN CEO Martin Inkumbi said that a lack of sanitation facilities can lead to the spread of diseases and contamination of water sources.
“These factors lead to human tragedy, and to economic costs. Economic costs include loss of productivity, loss of productive members of the community, and the cost of medical services to restore health. The intervention of constructing sanitation facilities not just a means to improve social development, but also an investment in the future,” Inkumbi said.
Inkumbi also sketched out the economic benefits of grassroots development activities such as the Ohadiwa ya Kapombo project, adding that several employment opportunities arose as a result of the project, creating temporary income for contractors. He added that due to a shortfall of bricks, more bricks were manufactured locally, pointing to potential for a microenterprise.
He continued by saying that grassroots development combines cost-efficiency with significant socio-economic benefits and stimulus of local economies for small centers such as Ohadiwa ya Kapombo. This he said, would be the basis of further, larger-scale development.
