The City of Windhoek is planning to stop the provision of free water in informal settlements from next month because of the financial burden the service put on the council.
This directive comes from the municipal council meeting of 30 November 2021.
The provision of free water in informal settlements was a directive from Government in an effort to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
City spokesperson Harold Akwenye said “due to the misuse or abuse of the free water, council is contemplating to revert back to the pay system for residents in informal settlements. The set-up included free water taps around informal settlements.”
Responding to questions from New Era, he stated that since the introduction of free water provision in informal settlements at the beginning of 2020, when the pandemic hit Namibia, Government paid about N$12 million for the first three months of lockdown. Afterwards, no payment was received.
Akwenye stressed that the deficit now stands at N$90 million, and is expected to increase at the end of January 2022.
The monthly bill is around N$6 million.
He noted that cutting off these services will affect about 180 000 people living in informal settlements. The city will, however, inform residents to keep on practising Covid-19 regulations as outlined by the government in order to fight the pandemic.
“Council envisages to close the taps next month after informing (sensitising) the residents on the closing of free water. Also, an awareness campaign will start next week,” the spokesperson continued.
City insiders say the current debt will prompt the council to transfer it to various ministries if Government fails to settle the outstanding N$90 million debt.
When asked for comment, former mayor and councillor Fransina Kahungu said the decision to cut off free water supply in informal settlements was a recommendation that sprung from a consultative meeting between the council and city residents in the informal settlements.
“People who live close to those communal taps informed the council that Windhoek residents, many of whom come from urban areas, use communal water for construction purposes, leaving those who really need it in trouble. They observed many people fetching water with big construction trucks,” she added.
Due to the misuse of water, some members of the community proposed that the subsidised water be cut off.
Taking note of the impact it would have on impoverished residents, Kahungu said, “Unemployment is very high, and many have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and can thus not afford prepaid water. But, council still has an option to discuss the matter with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to continue providing subsidised water to those residents.”
Recently, the city has been challenged with cash flow issues as well as how to manage critical infrastructure projects.
According to the last numbers released, the city recorded an income of N$4 billion for the 2020/21 period, which is a decrease from N$4.5 billion garnered during the 2019/20 period.
Their numbers showed a drop in revenue as a direct impact of Covid-19 due to businesses shutting down and people moving to villages, something which also affected the demand for the city’s services significantly.
Furthermore, their acting CEO said last year that they are very much aware of the struggle residents are going through to honour paying for the city’s services, hence increasing rates and taxes is not an option. Instead, finding alternatives to reduce costs while increasing production is the main objective of the city.