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Omitara

Coordinates: 22°16′S 18°1′E / 22.267°S 18.017°E / -22.267; 18.017
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Omitara
Omitara is located in Namibia
Omitara
Omitara
Location in Namibia
Coordinates: 22°16′S 18°1′E / 22.267°S 18.017°E / -22.267; 18.017
Country Namibia
RegionOmaheke Region
Time zoneUTC+2 (South African Standard Time)
ClimateBSh
Station Omitara, Namibia

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

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Basic Income Grant project

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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

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Otjivero Dams aerial view 2018

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

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ How a Basic Income Program Saved a Namibian Village, "Der Spiegel", Oct 2009
  2. ^ BIG a big success Archived 2008-10-05 at the Wayback Machine The Namibian, 4 October 2008
  3. ^ A Basic Income Program in Otjivero
  4. ^ a b "BIG resources depleted". Namibia Economist. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012.
  5. ^ Otjivero residents to get bridging allowance as BIG pilot ends Archived 2012-09-06 at archive.today
  6. ^ Namibia: BIG Resumes At Otjivero
  7. ^ "Otjivero Dam". namibweb.com. Retrieved 28 October 2020.

Literature

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