EENHANA - While the Eenhana Town Council made great strides in housing provision, council is struggling with waste disposal as the oxidation pond is not sufficient for the town. Speaking during the budget presentation on Friday, Mayor Amos Nangolo said council needs to urgently raise about N$100 million to construct a treatment plant at the town.

“Council is now faced with a mammoth challenge of waste water disposal and treatment as our current oxidation pond does not have the capacity to carry the current inflow of water,” Nangolo said. In addition to the sewerage problem at the town, the council is also urgently in need of a dumping site. According to Nangolo, the waste collected at the town is outgrowing the capacity of the dumping site in place.

Despite the challenges, council with its sister city of Harelbeke in Belgium has crafted a plan for both projects which will enable them to seek for funding. Despite these, the council has made great strides to address the housing challenges and subsequently reduce the national housing backlog. Through the Public Private Partnership (PPP), the mayor made reference to housing development projects at various extensions at the town, including the servicing of land for the construction of 171 houses and the possibility of a further 20 show houses at Extension 14. In addition, the town is also expecting to foresee the construction of two bigger malls this year. The malls according to Nangolo are envisaged to boost the local economy while at the same time creating jobs for the masses of unemployed youth at the town.

To further boost the local economy, the council further looks forward to hosting its 12th Eenhana Trade and Exhibition Expo which is geared towards addressing youth unemployment and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) development.
“We therefore need to put more efforts in supporting our SMEs and established businesses in order to create a stronger economic base and a resilient local economy,” said Nangolo.