WINDHOEK – Agriculture, Water and Forestry Minister, John Mutorwa, is urging the local community to jealously guard the Nghishongwa Earth Dam infrastructure that was made possible by the American taxpayers, reminding them that Namibia was a very dry country and that water meant life for them and their livestock.
“This dam will no doubt help improve the condition of your livestock and the farmers will get far better prices for their animals at the auctions,” the Minister says, adding that the government planned to take over from where Millennium Challenge Account- Namibia (MCA‐N) had left off by constructing similar earth dams at selected settlements throughout the country. Mutorwa officially inaugurated the dam at the remote Oshamono village in the Epembe Constituency of the Ohangwena Region last week at the handover of the facilities by the (MCA‐N to the community.
The Nghishongwa Earth Dam of N$ 4.5 million was built as part of MCA‐N’s Livestock Support Activity, aiming at, among others, increasing farmers’ income in the Northern Communal Areas (NCAs). The dam has a capacity of 60,000 cubic metres and comes complete with a solar powered submersible pump, a pipeline to water storage tanks, livestock drinking troughs and a stock proof fence around it. Once again, he warns against theft and vandalism of the dam infrastructure. “There are solar panels and pumps. There is a fence around the dam. All these must be protected. If you take good care of this dam it will help you,” the Minister urges the communal farmers.
U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, John Kowalski, said the U.S. Government recognises the lasting benefits of creating opportunity for hard‐working Namibians to help themselves ‐ and by doing so, to build a stronger Namibia.
“The Nghishongwa Dam is one of the many stunning successes improving economic potential of Namibians in the Northern Communal Areas. When the MCC/MCA‐N teams came to this area to introduce better methods for managing livestock resources and especially rangeland resources,
farmers said loud and clear that ‘without water, new methods for managing rangeland will not work’. This dam is proof that your voices were heard,” stresses the U.S. Government representative.
By Deon Schlechter