Pandemonium erupted yesterday after NamWater officials in Keetmanshoop allegedly attempted to install a bulk pre-paid water meter (PPWM) at the water reservoir outside the town.
In a social media post, Keetmanshoop municipal council chairperson Easter Isaak is heard talking to a NamWater employee, who is allegedly trying to install the water meter.
“After our last meeting, we agreed that NamWater, the Keetmanshoop town council, and the urban and rural development and agriculture ministries will sit together to find an amicable solution for this issue of debt, and that no PPWM will be installed.
But now, the same NamWater comes here today in a cunning way of water infrastructure maintenance at the reservoir, and are now busy installing the water meter,’’ Isaak charged.
In the post, he mentioned that the municipality already paid N$7 million over to NamWater during the first quarter of 2022 as a measure to maintain their debt payments with the entity.
The chairperson also wanted to know who had given consent for the commissioning of the water meter.
Also commenting on the issue in the post, Keetmanshoop Urban constituency councillor Joseph Isaacks, who doubles as the chairperson of the //Kharas regional council, reasoned that the bone of contention is not about putting in pre-paid water meter, but rather about the agreement between the council and NamWater.
“Tell your bosses to come here, as the municipality stops you to put in the PPWM. The only solution here is for you to fix the damaged pipes,” he informed the NamWater official.
Keetmanshoop mayor McDonald Hanse said at the site during a previous meeting with NamWater that the latter proposed the installation of the meter, but that the municipality disagreed.
“We further tried to set up a date to meet again this week. But not with the chief financial officer as we were informed, but rather the chief executive officer or chairman of their board of directors,’’ said the first citizen of the town.
Responding telephonically to the issue, Namwater’s //Kharas regional manager Andries Kock said the installation of the water meter was already 90% completed during their last meeting. They merely wanted to finish the job as part of water infrastructure maintenance, hence the notice to residents about a water disconnection in the town for the duration of yesterday.
“I can give you the assurance that NamWater will not commission and implement this PPWM before we and the municipality agree on it. You do not need to worry,’’ he informed the town’s mayor during the telephonic conversation which was audible in the social media post. Kock added that the two parties will soon convene a meeting to discuss the issue, and that during this platform, Keetmanshoop CEO Desmond Basson promised to come up with a plan on how to settle the council’s outstanding debt with NamWater.
When approached for comment, council’s spokesperson Dawn Kruger said the whole dispute was due to a misunderstanding between the two parties involved.
“This pre-paid water meter was already partially installed at the Keetmanshoop water reservoir, and NamWater just wanted to complete the process accordingly,’’ she confirmed.
Kruger added that the meter can only be implemented after being commissioned, which can only possibly be done at a later stage.
“We will have a meeting with NamWater this Friday to come up with a proposal on how to settle council’s outstanding debt for water supply with NamWater, and furthermore to timeously pay our current monthly account with them,” she said.
At the time of going to press, water supply was not yet disconnected in the town as relayed in a previous statement by NamWater, who announced that they would be suspending water supply yesterday for purposes of water infrastructure maintenance.
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