Omitara
Omitara | |
|---|---|
  Omitara Location in Namibia | |
| Coordinates: 22°16′S 18°1′E / 22.267°S 18.017°E | |
| Country |  Namibia |
| Region | Omaheke Region |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (South African Standard Time) |
| Climate | BSh |
Omitara is a settlement in the Steinhausen electoral constituency in the Omaheke Region of Namibia. Together with the adjacent village of Otjivero — the two places are often referred to as one — it had a population of approximately 1,200 as of October 2008. Otjivero and Omitara Railway Station are two contiguous TransNamib railway stops en route from Windhoek to Gobabis.
Economy and Infrastructure
[edit]Basic Income Grant project
[edit]In 2008 and 2009, Omitara and Otjivero were the site of a basic income grant test project.[1] Every person under the retirement age of 60 was given 100 Namibian dollars (Namibian pensioners get an independent allowance of 550N$ per month). The follow-up study, published in October 2008, reported that poverty-related crime, malnutrition rates among children and school drop outs had decreased since the inception of the project. The coalition advocating for a BIG in Namibia was led by labour and church organisations,[2][3] hoping for a nationwide implementation of this grant to alleviate the worst effects of poverty in the country. The government of Namibia has however not supported this initiative.[4]
After the last payment was scheduled for December 2009, a bridging allowance of 80 N$ per month was introduced in order not to "let residents slide back into the dehumanising levels of poverty that they experienced before".[5] This bridging allowance was paid until the end of 2011 when the BIG coalition ran out of money.[4] Payments resumed again in July 2014 with support from the Waldensian Church in Italy.[6]
Otjovero Dam
[edit]
West of Otjivero and Omitara the Otjivero Dams are situated. They comprise a main dam and a silt dam and store the water of the White Nossob River.[7]
See also
[edit]- Basic income around the world
- Mincome basic income project in Manitoba, Canada
References
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ How a Basic Income Program Saved a Namibian Village, "Der Spiegel", Oct 2009
- ^ BIG a big success Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine The Namibian, 4 October 2008
- ^ A Basic Income Program in Otjivero
- ^ a b "BIG resources depleted". Namibia Economist. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012.
- ^ Otjivero residents to get bridging allowance as BIG pilot ends Archived 2012-09-06 at archive.today
- ^ Namibia: BIG Resumes At Otjivero
- ^ "Otjivero Dam". namibweb.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
Literature
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
