By Anna Shilongo
AUSSENKEHR
Residents of Aussenkehr are up in arms over alleged lack of development at the settlement in the Karas Region.
For many years most residents have had to be content with an inadequate supply of water and electricity, as well as other municipal services.
Some residents walk as far as the Orange River to collect water, which is not fit for human consumption.
This came to light after a number of cases were reported to the Regional Health Director Puumue Katjiuanjo who sent a team to carry out a study that revealed that the water was not fit for human consumption.
Aussenkehr has no town council or local authority. It is private land where grape farmers have to take care of their workers.
Unlike the unemployed who have to fetch their water directly from the river, the employers cater for employed residents.
There is an engine that pumps water from the Orange River. Once the water is purified, it gets transported to employees’ homes by truck every afternoon.
Aussenkehr is a fast-growing settlement with a population of about 20 000 people.
Most of the settlement’s residents are afflicted by poverty and have had to learn life the hard way by trying to cope in the absence of sanitation, shelter, a government clinic, ambulance, police cells, employment and schools for their children. There is only one primary school which caters for 300 children at a time.
Aussenkehr has a post office, mobile bank and a police station with no cells.
The police station is manned by only six policemen with an old vehicle. The vehicle is shared with Noordoewer police, said a senior investigator at the settlement.
Other problems prevailing at the town are inadequate resources, lack of a mortuary and lack of transport and cells for suspects, a parliamentary team that visited the area was briefed.
“If we have to detain suspects, we have to drive them to the nearest town which is Noordoewer, and sometimes there is not enough petrol to transport suspects,” said the senior detective.
He said the petrol allocated to their office on a monthly basis is not enough.
“At times, we are left with no petrol, the community needs our attention but we can’t reach them on time if the car has no petrol. This car is even unpredictable. It is an old car that needs to be replaced,” he said.
Another concern at the settlement is the increase in shebeens and the abuse of alcohol, which the police say contributes to an escalation in crime.
A lack of an ambulance and government clinic is another challenge.
Ambulance drivers refuse to pick up patients at the settlement because it’s on private land and as a result patients are forced to hike to the nearest town where they can get to a government clinic despite the long distance.
“We hire private vehicles to take us to the hospital and they charge a lot especially when it’s after hours. We have to pay NS400,” said a resident.
“Why is Government failing to provide us with services as if we are Namibians – every time we are told we are sitting on private land, but if that’s the case, then why do we vote?” queried a disappointed resident.
Government was apparently given a portion of land by a group of companies that owned land there some few years ago but nothing further has been done with the land to date.