Eveline de Klerk 

WALVIS BAY – A three-year old boy almost drowned last night, while about a 100 people were rendered homeless when a burst water pipe flooded at least 30 shacks at the Namport suburb in Kuisebmond. 
The boy’s grandmother, Bernadine Tjiriange, yesterday narrated the near-tragic incident to New Era, saying she was woken up by the vague screams of the toddler, who was sleeping on a mattress in front of her bed. 
“He was restless, so I decided to see why he could not sleep. To my shock, I stepped in water and realised we had been flooded. The water was very high and I grabbed him and performed CPR on him,” an emotional Tjiriange said yesterday. 
She added that she then tuned the boy on his side and he managed to cough out a substantial amount of water.
Meanwhile, the affected residents yesterday afternoon told New Era that they are unhappy they had to wait long for plumbers to be sent out to repair the pipe burst. 
Local resident Jolanda Kamehozu said the pipe burst around 22h00 in the evening. However they only noticed around midnight that they were flooded. According to her, they have lost thousands of dollars worth of electrical equipment and food, while some of the their children’s school books were also damaged by the deluge. 
“We have nowhere to go and can’t sleep in the wet shacks. On top of it, we are on lockdown. We are really desperate for a temporary solution,” she said. 
Walvis Bay mayor Wilfred Immanuel and Erongo governor Cleophas Mutjavikua visited the affected families and expressed disappointment in the reaction time of the municipality department responsible for water. 
However, the municipality yesterday insisted it responded on time. 
– edeklerk@nepc.com.na