The Ministry Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety and Security recently conducted an outreach programme to the Maltahöhe village under the theme ‘The potential to increase coverage, improve quality and timelessness of data through the digitalisation of civil registration’.
This is the second time in the last year this joint initiative is held between the ministry, the Office of the Hardap Governor and the Daweb Constituency office.
The event earlier in the week also coincided with the commemoration of civil registration day in the Hardap Region.
According to Armandi Pieters, the Senior Administrative Officer at the Daweb Constituency office, it is the obligation of the constituency office to render support to the community and bring services closer to the people.
“Maltahöhe is located remotely and the important services offered by the Ministry of Home Affairs are only available in Mariental, the administrative capital of the Hardap Region, thus the outreach programme contributes to bringing services closer to the people, especially to those who cannot afford to travel to Mariental,” she said.
Close to 200 people visited the Daweb Constituency office during the two days where they were granted on the spot assistance.
However some expressed their dismay at the fact that they had to pay N.dollars 100 for the duplication of birth certificate applications as they are unemployed and cannot afford to pay. They recommended that the government consider alternative interventions such as police declarations to serve as waiver for the issuance of duplicate documents for the unemployed.
On the other hand, others expressed their gratitude for the opportunity granted to them, saying the outreach programme rescued them from having to travel to Mariental to access the ministry’s services.
The programme led to the outcomes of 43 new birth registrations, 16 late birth registrations, 70 new Identification Document (ID) applications, six corrections on IDs, seven replacements of old IDs, six duplicate ID applications and two data updates on IDs.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency