New Usakos mayor Irene Simeon-Kurtz takes on town development mission
By Adolf Kaure.
Recently-elected mayor of Usakos, Her Worship Irene Simeon-Kurtz, has promised to deliver social-economic development to the town to bring it back to municipality status.
Simeon-Kurtz was sworn in as the mayor of the town in December 2022 as part of a SWAPO-UDF coalition.
According to her, the town has massive potential for development that can propel it back to the category of being a municipality.
“We should be able to move with speed, urgency and determination to address the social, economic and developmental challenges of Usakos. We must implement our local economic development plan and we should also give maximum attention to create jobs for our communities,” she told the town councillors during the swearing-in event.
She urged councillors to be guided by national plans like NDP5 (National Development Plan 5) to develop the town.
“The labour force, businesses, communities, and the state must work together to achieve faster inclusive economic growth. As councillors we need to provide support and enforce monitoring systems to ensure successful implementation of these services,” she said.
Some of the projects which she has envisioned for Usakos include the completion of the ongoing railway project which will create employment opportunities for the town’s residents.
“The work in Usakos will be done soon meaning our children and our people who were employed and benefitted economically from their project in Usakos will benefit directly and indirectly,” said the mayor.
She further cited tourism and mining as sectors that will play a pivotal role in the economic empowerment of the residents’ lives particularly women, the youth and people with disability.
Other key project priorities include the dream for Usakos to have a fully-fledged sports academy, a public sports facility, health programmes that will mitigate the spread of illnesses and restructuring the town to address the need for housing and employment.
