KALKFELD – Residents of Kalkfeld in the Otjiwarongo district of the Otjozondjupa Region are allegedly drowning in mountains of uncollected domestic waste.
Many disgruntled residents are at their wits end with what many are calling rubbish-mountains. “Kalkfeld is clean except for all these heaps. In my opinion 80 percent is clean. People are starting to dump trash on the heaps making things worse,” said resident member of the Kalkfeld Development Committee and the Swapo Party Co-ordinator Sipho Kauripeke. “I have to travel all the way to Otjiwarongo just to buy underwear, there are no shops here only ruins of old abandoned buildings. Small shops such as Pep, Jet, Ackerman’s or even Chinese shops found in other small towns are not here in Kalkfeld with only two schools – a primary and a junior secondary school. This town is going nowhere slowly,” said 39-year-old and long-time Kalkfeld resident Brian Njahera. “We are tired but continue to wait and hope although we have seen no solutions so far. Pray that your car does not run out of fuel when you are in Kalkfeld, because the town is without any petrol. To find the closest petrol station one has to travel as far as Otjiwarongo or Omaruru,” chuckled Njahera ruefully. According to him the community is still waiting to see the removal or cleaning up of the toilets in the area. “The longer these toilets remain filled with human faeces and other excrement the longer we are exposed to the sicknesses associated with this waste. Nothing has happened since we were told to wait for the issue to be resolved. I am guessing the same will happen with regard to all these heaps of rubbish in our streets,” he said.
Angela Doeses (49) offered a solution, which she believes, has the potential to kill two birds with the proverbial one stone. “The government could hire people from the community to clean up this mess by teaching community members to clean this waste in return for payment. This will create jobs for some members of the community. I know for a fact that many would gladly take up this task and in so doing solve the issue of the toilets and unemployment in Kalkfeld,” suggested Doeses.
By John Travolter Matali