Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Windhoek-The water available in various reservoirs in central Namibia is enough to supply Windhoek and surrounding towns for at least two more years, a technical team told President Hage Geingob at State House yesterday.
Briefing President Geingob on the water situation in the central areas, Petro Maritz, a member of the Water Technical Committee on Supply Security said based on the work done by the committee so far the inflow of water in the central dams during the past rainy season was assessed to be sufficient to supply Windhoek and surrounding areas up to the year 2020.
“I think we must remember that we cannot go on and use the water injudiciously, so part of the programme [is that] we still have to save some water,” he said.
“We will get through for at least two more years if we use our water wisely,” he added.
According to Maritz, the central dams received inflow of at least 50 percent but the water technicians will still have to pump more water from underground sources in the Grootfontein area. He said they have also been developing boreholes in the area surrounding Windhoek.
Mid-last year Geingob appointed a committee that consists of Cabinet ministers, assisted by a special technical committee composed of government technocrats and water experts to address Namibia’s acute water shortage
The Cabinet committee consists of Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry John Mutorwa as chairperson, Minister of Finance Calle Schlettwein, Minister of Economic Planning Tom Alweendo, Minister of Urban and Rural Development Sophia Shaningwa and Minister of Presidential Affairs Frans Kapofi, who were all present at the briefing yesterday.
The technical committee of experts consists of Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) CEO Dr Vaino Shivute, water expert Maritz, City of Windhoek strategic executive for infrastructure, water and technical services Pierre van Rensburg, presidential economic advisor Dr John Steytler, presidential advisor on policy monitoring and implementation Penny Akwenye, as well as government technocrats from the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, who were also in attendance yesterday.