Kuzeeko Tjitemisa
Water at the villages of Otjozondjima and Omawejozonjanda in the Epukiro constituency, Omaheke region is unfit for human consumption, the Landless People’s Movement (LPM) has discovered.
The discovery came after the LPM leadership sent water samples to NamWater for analysis. According to a NamWater report shared by the party leadership at a press conference yesterday, the water at Omawejozonjanda is classified as class D- “unsuitable for human consumption,” while the water at Otjozondjima is classified as class C “low risk.”
“Since apartheid, the people of Epukiro Pos 1 and 3 have been exposed to unfit for human consumption water. In fact, the water is so bad that you can’t even have a crop garden,” LPM leader Bernadus Swartbooi said yesterday while addressing the media on various issues.
“We know that at Epukiro RC, there is very good water, and there were plans for a pipeline to be constructed to feed both Epukiro Pos 1 and 3 with decent water for human consumption, but that plan went into thin air,” he added.
However, he said they are in the process of writing to agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein as well as the ministry’s executive director to ensure that a project is commenced to bring water either from Epukiro RC, which is some 40km away, or Okatuuo (Epukiro Pos 9), which is some 30km away, so that people at the two villages can be well served.
Omawejozonjanda (Epukiro Pos 3) is the constituency capital while Otjozondjima (Epukiro Pos 3) is situated some 6km west of it. Since before independence, the water in the two villages and nearby villages like Okozondje has typically been white and salty. Villagers at the two settlements have over the years been collecting their drinking water from nearby villages like Kalkpan (Epukiro Pos 5) and Okovimburu (Epukiro Pos 10). The villages are around 7km from Epukiro Pos 3.
The constituency has been under Swapo rule ever since independence.
During the last regional elections, Swapo candidate Piniel Paki Pakarae won the election, obtaining 1 445 votes, followed by Sandie Tjaronda, an independent candidate, with 760 votes and Alex Kandetu (Nudo) with 231 votes. Tjaronda has since joined the LPM. LPM has been campaigning heavily in the constituency over the last few months.
– ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na