By Surihe Gaomas RUNDU The Rundu Town Council would have to fork out close to N$30ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million in order to seal a leaky sewerage system threatening to contaminate the Kavango River. Today, President Hifikepunye Pohamba will receive a full report on the precarious situation facing the town of Rundu after he instructed the Town Council to consider, as a matter of urgency, remedying the problem as of today. Council, however, battles with the dilemma of not having budgeted for any unforeseen circumstances such as this one, and would be forced to approach the Prime Minister’s Office to allocate money from the Emergency Relief Fund that caters for such emergencies. A high-level delegation from the Ministry of Defence will this week also come and familiarize themselves with the leakages at the military base in Rundu. Highly toxic sewerage is flowing from the military base towards the floodplains. The remedial actions come in the wake of the Head of State’s recent visit to the Kavango Region where he visited, amongst others, the Rundu Sewerage Ponds and was informed that the black sewerage water gushing out from these ponds is flowing downstream towards the Kavango River. If not attended to in a serious manner, this could pose a serious health hazard and threaten contamination of the river in the near future. Soon after his return to Windhoek, Pohamba, through a letter from the Minister of Presidential Affairs, Dr Albert Kawana, urgently instructed the Rundu Town Council to find an immediate solution to the sewerage problem in the town. Pohamba urged the Town Council to work hand in hand with the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development to address the problem. Giving feedback on the situation to New Era yesterday, the Strategic Executive of Planning and Technical Services at the Rundu Town Council, Fanie van der Westhuizen, said that by tomorrow the first of four earth dams will be completed at Sauyemwa. The other sites that will get similar developments are Kaisote, Kaisosi and the Military Base to prevent any possible flow of toxic sewerage water towards the river. The earth dams to be constructed will be four metres wide and two metres high. The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication has also thrown in their support behind providing earthmoving equipment. “This includes two additional front-end loaders, two tipper trucks of 10 cubic metres each, one additional grader and one more vibrating compactor. Council will supply one bulldozer, one front-end loader and a tipper truck,” explained Van der Westhuizen. To fence off the area of 5 square kilometeres, which is one of the first priorities, will already cost N$800ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000. “This is barbed wire fencing or security fence to keep people and animals out of the contaminated water area, so all polluted water will be fenced off,” added Van der Westhuizen. Another place that is highly at risk is Ngwangwa Village where 9ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 people depend on the Ngwangwa River. Council has also introduced prepaid water systems at Kaisote as well as a bridge that would give residents a safe cross-over to schools in the nearby area. Other preventative measures include detoxifying and purifying the water in ponds and to use this water for agricultural purposes and parks. In 2002, the existing ponds received an inflow of 2,2ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million litres per day but, with the influx of people to the town, it will double to 4,4ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ million litres per day, which puts a severe strain on the sewerage system. To date, 30ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 people use the sewerage system in town as compared to 1ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 500 in 1974. So what makes the water so toxic? Van der Westhuizen explained that human waste contains chemicals called ‘hormones’ and, if not treated in the right way, may turn out to be toxic. “It eats away your body from the inside and contaminates the liver,” said Van der Westhuizen. He added that the hair colour of some school children in the Ngwangwa area has changed from normal black to orange, and the chemical has made the hair brittle. An NGO partner of the council, Lux Development, is also willing to help with an information awareness campaign where they will drive around and inform the public on the safety aspects.