KEETMANSHOOP - The Keetmanshoop municipality has obtained 1 000 prepaid water meters for residents to help them manage their debt.
Mayor McDonald Hanse said at a media conference last week that the installation of prepaid water meters will allow customers to load their outstanding debt onto the meter.
“A percentage of every purchase will be deducted to reduce the debt. In this way, residents will not face service interruptions, while having the opportunity to reduce their outstanding debt,” he said.
Residents owe the municipality approximately N$119 million in water bills.
Hanse clarified that this initiative will apply solely to vulnerable, unemployed and elderly residents in recognising the unique challenges they may face.
“We believe this approach strikes a fair balance between ensuring that everyone contributes to our municipal services, while offering a compassionate solution to our most vulnerable community members,” he added.
The installation cost of the water prepaid meter for residents will be N$3 748, excluding value-added tax, while residents will pay N$22.91 per 1 000 litres of water. The municipality pays NamWater about N$19 for the same amount of water.
The mayor indicated that the first seven meters will be installed at the residences of the seven municipal councillors as a gesture of goodwill.
However, this was not well-received by the residents, who questioned the criteria used for the municipality to decide to install the meters at councillors’ residences first, while there are vulnerable community members who could have been assisted in this manner instead.
Innocent Mathys expressed dissatisfaction, saying “the council’s preference for the water meters is a slap in the face, especially for the elders. You cannot say charity starts at home; whose home, with whose money? You are supposed to look at the people who are vulnerable, and start with them. Leave the councillors. They are supposed to serve the people; they are not Gods to be put first.”
The municipality’s acting chief executive officer Lee Mwemba said the councillors and the municipality’s management would have a meeting to see if the decision could be reversed.
- Nampa