WINDHOEK – The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Anna Shiweda, has advised community leaders in Ohangwena to avoid the “silo mentality” and instead adopt holistic, inclusive, regional development strategies.
Shiweda made this call during the opening of a two-day workshop on the role of Leadership in Water Technology Innovations in Enhancing Job Creation at Eembaxu village in the Ohangwena region yesterday.
She said it has been observed that currently regional councillors only look and concentrate on their respective constituencies.
Shiweda said it is, therefore, important for regional leadership to adopt a helicopter view of the whole region and address unidentified hotspots in the region, concertedly, collectively and in a manner that enhances sustainability.
She said the topic being discussed namely, “To define the role of leadership and community in water management and the possible regional economic approach in creating jobs from natural (water) resources” is very important.
However, she said leaders needed to approach this topic by “thinking out of the box” because strategies and plans to be deployed cannot be done within the normal conventional methods and should not be business as usual.
“The community-based water management approach should be adopted, as it allows the community, under the able leadership of the local and regional leaders, to take the lead in the management of the water resources,” she said.
This approach, she said, inculcates in the members of the community a sense of ownership, participation and responsibility in the management of their resources.
The deputy minister said the local government together with communities should take the lead in the identification of the community needs, and the strategies that need to be deployed to address and resolve these needs.
“This means that the community under the regional leadership should not entirely rely on the central government in the management of their resources,” she said.
She said decentralisation of certain functions to the regions should be capitalised so that communities are empowered to manage resources themselves and create ownership and pride.
According to Shiweda, the regions, especially, Ohangwena region, have done that in the past, for example, de-bushing and clearing of roads on the Eenhana-Okongo Road. This strategy, she said could also be applied to the management of the water resources, as it would create a sense of pride, patriotism and ownership of resources, and assist in curbing water wastage, vandalism, and prevent intentional contamination of water sources.
“Community involvement in the development of water infrastructure is better than a situation where the work is profit-orientated,” she said.
For example, she explained that the contractors who construct water infrastructure are driven to make the highest profit and, therefore, try by all means to save on materials, and in the process the quality of work is compromised. And, as a result, the economic life span of the infrastructure reduced.
“Research shows that the Ohangwena aquifer has massive water resources, which is estimated at approximately 20 billion cubic metres,” she said, adding that this means that members of the community in Ohangwena Region and beyond could derive many benefits from the Ohangwena water aquifer once is it fully developed.