Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein, said government has drilled 166 of the targeted 206 boreholes at the cost of N$32 million as part of the drought relief emergency funds from the prime minister’s office.
Schlettwein said this in parliament last week while responding to Popular Democratic Movement (PDM)’s Member of Parliament (MP), Diedrick Vries who wanted to know how many boreholes were drilled from the N$126 million drought relief emergency funds. The N$126 million was allocated in November and it is meant to get water to rural areas within the region where there is water scarcity. Schlettwein said, of the 206 boreholes, 166 boreholes were completed at a total cost of N$32 million. “This excludes the //Kharas and Kunene regions and currently 40 boreholes are in progress,” he stated.

He said it is essential to note that the Office of the Prime Minister under the Drought Relief Programme for 2019/2020 financial year has allocated funds which were transferred to the regional councils at all 14 regions. “The regional councils then came up with the implementation plan, did the whole procurement process and execute the drilling work,” informed Schlettwein. He said: “The role of the ministry during the programme was to coordinate the whole process and offer the technical assistance by conducting siting of boreholes, drilling supervision and ensuring that the ministry’s standards and regulations are adhered to,” he stated. The biggest chunk of that money, Schlettwein said will be spent on installing 70 boreholes in the //Kharas region at a total cost of N$23.6 million. Kavango West will receive a total of 15 boreholes installations at cost of N$11.6 million. – psiririka@nepc.com.na