ONDANGWA – Water minister Calle Schlettwein said many pipes belonging to NamWater have aged and need replacement to ensure sufficient delivery of water to all Namibians.
Schlettwein said this yesterday during his visit to the 17-kilometre Ondangwa-Oshali pipeline project which forms part of the first phase of the 130-kilometre Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline replacement project.

The Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime bulk water supply scheme, also known as the South East scheme, serves both the Oshana and Oshikoto regions.
According to Schlettwein, most of the infrastructure is about 70 years old and needs to be improved, hence the replacement project currently being undertaken along the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime water system.

“These projects allow us to upgrade to new water infrastructure which will have four times the capacity of the old pipes and will be done by 2037,” he said.
The minister further noted that about 87% of the Namibian population is connected to clean water, saying that the aim is to have the remaining 12% also provided with clean water.
Schlettwein went on to say that his ministry plans to change the bulk water supply by connecting two sources, namely the Ohangwena Aquifer II and the Calueque Dam.

NamWater’s CEO Abraham Nehemia indicated that the visit is aimed at monitoring and evaluating the work done on the replacement of the water pipeline for Phase 1.
According to Nehemia, the first phase of the project is being done over a period of 12 months at an amount of over N$91.1 million with engineers all sourced from NamWater.

“The current pipelines have an average of 45 years and experience frequent bursting, resulting in water not reaching the intended villages,” he said.
Nehemia called on the community members not to build structures at the pipelines. – Nampa