Honourable Konjore, I will guide you

Dear Hon. Minister of Environment and Tourism, Mr Willem Konjore

Dear Permanent Secretary of the same Ministry, Dr Malan Lindeque

Dear Mr. Ombudsman, Mr. John Walters,

Please take note. During the last couple years I have visited Sossus Vley with quite a number of guests to our country. I regularly take them for a walk to Dead Vley and surrounding areas. Every time I go there now, I am shocked.

Shocked and appalled of the state of our biggest tourist attraction, Sossus Vley.

The area of Sossus Vley and its surrounding have been permitted to degrade to the state of a public toilet. What has happened to our pristine desert?

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia - Article 91- the Ombudsman inter alia (Article 91, c) has "the duty to investigate complaints concerning ... the destruction of ecosystrems and the failure to protect the beauty and character of Namibia."

Your Ministry of Environment and Tourism and your staff, Mr. Minister, are in charge, and you have failed completely to protect our most valuable asset.

Please go and have a look for yourselves, take a walk in Sossus Vley together with one of us guides (I am a professional Namibian Tour guide and volunteer my services) and see for yourselves. You should be disgusted as I am.

Virtually behind every dune or tuft of grass you will find toilet paper, tissues and excrements and more despicable items. Let me make it clear: Even one piece of toilet paper is too much! Is this really necessary? I do not think so. To my opinion it is you and your staff that simply ignore the basic needs and requirements of our valued Namibian guests, and our local inhabitants. All of us have basic needs, and one of the most basic needs is a reasonable acceptable toilet facility so that you can relieve yourselves in a hygienic and acceptable way, especially at a place where you have find a concentration of many people, such as tourists being charged entrance and other fees. Please provide something that is acceptable to the modern human being.

What do we have at present: Wooden shacks over a pit that stinks to heaven with a toilet pot that is so dirty and grimy that you cannot expect any self-respecting person to use it. Can we really offer these absolutely unacceptable facilities at an entrance fee of N$ 80.00 to our Namibian guests and call this civilized hospitality? No, by offering this you force the guests to go into the desert, defacing one of our most valuable assets.

Please, there is NO necessity for flushing toilets. What is however required is a decent hut, with a functioning door, a decent toilet seat, some chemicals that can dispel the smell, and the daily cleaning of the facilities, and as a bonus, toilet paper. (If you do not know where something like this is to be purchased, please ask Mr. Goldbeck, CEO of Gondwana Park, they just installed some at Aus Info Centre. These toilets do not cost millions)

Furthermore, it would be required to instruct every visitor/driver and guide to use the facilities prvided, and make him aware that this is a pristine desert area, making him aware of: Take nothing more than photos, leave nothing else than footprints.

Please note: This despicable situation holds true for Aruvley and the rest of Namib Naukluft Park facilities. They are at present visited by millions of flies. (At Ganab we saw two living snakes that had fallen into the longdrop, poor creatures. We where not able to help them, but with a proper toilet, this could have probably been avoided.)

Rainer Iben, Tour Guide and proud Citizen of Namibia (Windhoek)