By Magreth Nunuhe
WINDHOEK – Some Gobabis residents say that it is unacceptable that the municipality has to depend on the availability of NamWater’s distilling water equipment every time the water becomes ‘dirty’, as that endangers the health of the locals.
“It’s not acceptable that the municipality does not have own equipment. When will they buy their own machines?” asked Wallace Finnies, one of the residents.
He accused the municipality of selling them “dirty” water and shutting down water supply if they are in arrears, while in the meantime the town council apparently continues to buy a fleet of cars for purposes unknown.
Finnies claimed that he got stomach cramps from the poor quality of water they have been receiving for the past two weeks and added that some children in the neighbourhood had to be hospitalised after drinking the brownish water.
He said that the water problem got worse last November, but municipal officials apparently tried to convince them that the water was healthy.
“Communication is very poor (from the municipality). The community hall stands empty,” he lashed out, saying that if the town council does not communicate with them, they would take unspecified action.
Furthermore, Finnies claimed that he had been in talks with investors from Saudi Arabia who were interested in constructing houses and servicing land at the eastern town, but is still waiting for the municipality to give him a letter of intent.
Approached for comment, Gobabis Municipality public relations officer, Frederick Ueitele, said that they were buying water in bulk from NamWater but were not involved in water treatment.
“They (NamWater) assured us that the water is fit for human consumption,” he added, saying that they have not heard of people getting sick from water consumption at the town.
According to NamWater website, the water treatment plant at Gobabis employs a conventional purification process for turning dam water into drinking water.