Salomo Ndeyamunye yaNdeshimona
I AM writing on behalf of thousands of voting masses and the voiceless people of the Okankolo and Eengodi constituencies in the mighty and vast Oshikoto region in northern Namibia.
I have been a resident of the two constituencies by employment for more than 10 years now, and if you ask me what I dislike most about them, my answer would be simple: the biggest hurdles in this vast area, despite the lack of roads which I have learned to live without, is the erratic supply of water, network and electricity. Surely, looking at current trends and globalisation of the world, which we as a country are aiming to meet, these three are slowly but surely making their way to the top of the list of needs and not wants or luxuries.
Water has distinguished itself as a number one basic need that no human can live without for more than three days, but in this area, this basic requisite can be gone for more than that. It’s as if we the residents in this area have sinned beyond forgiveness for the service providers who render us electricity, water and communication network.
The three necessities usually disappear simultaneously, and choreographically. Once electricity is off, water pumping is affected, and network coverage to call the service providers, just in case there is a fault they haven’t detected, will follow suit. What is intriguing is that in some other areas of our country, if this happens, restoration happens quickly. However, as for us who live here, despite our needs, and terrain challenges, we have been forgotten and condemned. We have schools, hospitals, clinics (some mobile), and police stations, which are essential services that rely heavily on these services, yet they too are neglected when it comes to the provision of water, electricity, and network. What is worse is that the services are available, but no one cares to restore them timeously whenever there are faults. If electricity goes off after 17h00, expect it to be restored the next day, at around midday, or after 24 hours even.
The network monitoring teams are supposed to know when reception is off, and when you travel 30km to Onyaanya, Onyati or Omuthiya to inform them, they will acknowledge awareness, yet they still can take 24 hours to attend to our needs.
If living in this area is not a curse, then perhaps our sins are greater than those in charge of restoring our services when in need. Worse still, this is not a new thing, but something that has been there for years that we have come to devise alternatives to live with it. However, we have the young, the old, the disabled, and the vulnerable who have no choice but to live here. I am hopeful, despite all, as there is a solution to all these problems. NamWater should consider constructing a large reservoir to store water and supply to these vast constituencies with hard terrain. They should invest in more solar water pumps to pump water to the vast villages of the two constituencies. Telecom and MTC should also invest in a solar-powered backup to ensure that the network can survive power outages for at least 24 hours after a blackout. As for Nored, we pay huge amounts of money for these services, and surely you have the funds to ensure power restoration on time. Please be considerate; soon you will regret the loss of lives, should that occur, due to your lack of professionalism when power outages are reported to you and you are hesitant to attend to them at night. Sometimes even your telephone goes unanswered.
* Salomo Ndeyamunye yaNdeshimona is an educator from Oshikoto region. Email: ndeshimonasn@hotmail.com
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