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Namibia needs 45 mln USD for drought relief

Xinhua, July 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The uninterrupted three-year drought has forced the Namibian government to appeal for 660 million Namibian dollars (45 million U.S dollars) to provide relief until March 2017.

Namibia has about 590,000 people who desperately need drought relief.

Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said Namibia that is currently under a state of emergency will not be able to cater for the needy when the 90 million Namibian dollars (6 million U.S dollars) budgeted for March 2016 to July 2016 is depleted.

Addressing regional governors in Windhoek Monday, she said that the governors should appeal to the international communities for help.

Kuugongelwa-Amadhila also said she has high hopes that Namibia's pleas will be heeded. She promised that whatever is donated will benefit those in need.

She further told the governors that the government will rely on them when it comes to distributing drought relief.

"This support must be given to affected communities timeously and where we need to put in place infrastructures, you make sure that this is done timeously," she said.

She said farmers should accept incentives meant to support them to alleviate the effects of the drought by de-stocking.

"If you do not de-stock and you allow the animals to continue to starve eventually they will die and if you try to sell them when they are about to die you will not recover anything from their sale," she advised. Endit