Walvis Bay — A Botswana task group comprising councillors, municipal mana-gers and government officials met officials of the Municipality of Walvis Bay recently to learn more about how municipal finances are managed.

The leader of the group, Councillor Boikhutso Disele, noted that many aspects of the Namibian society and countryside felt familiar to them.

"Although we do not have as many hills or the sea and the desert, we feel comfortable among Namibians. Therefore, we wish to learn from our Namibian counterparts on how local authorities generate income and manage their resources. In Botswana, local authorities are subsidised up to 80 percent. If we are to become self-sufficient, we need to investigate what other local authorities are doing to generate revenue," he said.

Prior to their visit to Walvis Bay, the group met their counterparts from the Otjiwarongo Municipality and Windhoek City Council.

"Many of our towns are small, and so we will also visit some of the smaller Namibian local authorities to compare their revenue management systems," Disele added.

The group expressed interest in the municipality's role in promoting local tourism and industries, the export processing zone, dry-port facilities and whether municipalities derive income from community services such as libraries, old age homes and museums. The delegation also toured the port facilities, the demarcated dry port for Botswana, and the Syncrolift.