Red tape bogs down pad factory

JEMIMA BEUKES

A 2013 decision by a parliamentary standing committee on gender to establish a small-scale factory at Rundu to produce sanitary towels is now in limbo as a result of administration changes.

According to the deputy gender minister, Lucia Witbooi, the committee came to the conclusion that the plan to establish such a manufacturing facility was viable, following a nationwide investigation that revealed that girls miss two or more days of school when they menstruate.

Agnes Limbo, also a committee member, said the idea came about after it came to light that a lot of children are missing school because of a lack of sanitary towels. She added that it was decided that Rundu was the perfect location for the project because of the available water supply.

“We last discussed it in a real sense in 2014. We now have to follow up to see what has been done,” she said.

The committee was given the go-ahead by the then minister of trade, Calle Schlettwein, who concurred at a meeting on 24 February 2014 that Namibia should indeed have such a project.

On 30 May that same year the trade ministry wrote an approval letter to the committee for their request to conduct a feasibility study to set up the project.

In the letter the committee was requested to obtain three quotations from consulting firms approved by the ministry’s business support services programme. A list of names of these firms was provided.

However, by last week neither Witbooi nor Limbo knew whether any quotation had been submitted or if any progress had been made.

“The committee came up with idea, and already met with the Ministry of Trade. We were just in the process of submitting quotations for the feasibility study when the administration changed. And this is where the process got stuck,” said Witbooi.

According to her the new parliamentary committee responsible for gender issues must now take over this process.

But according to the chairperson of the new committee, Ida Hofmann, the committee is yet to receive a progress report from their predecessors.

The deputy director of business and entrepreneurial development and promotion division in the trade ministry, Diina Nashidengo, could also not shed any light on whether the committee had submitted any quotations to date.

Girls

Meanwhile, according to the permanent secretary in the education ministry, Sanet Steenkamp, to date no comprehensive statistics have been compiled on how the education of girls has been affected by a lack of sanitary pads.

According to her the ministry is evaluating the situation with the assistance of Fawena, an inter-ministry organisation that addresses the plight of the girl child.

Fawena, the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Namibia, is a non-governmental organisation. The Namibian chapter opened its office in 1999 with the support of the education ministry to help address the educational challenges girls face in Namibia.

Steenkamp said the project through Fawena will be piloted only at schools where poverty is a big problem.

A school principal who spoke to Namibian Sun on condition of anonymity said no provision was made for sanitary towels at the school.

“We will make a plan if a girl comes to report that she does not have pads but only to help her away. I mean if we buy them pads they will never buy pads again,” she said.