Cecilia Xavier

OPUWO – The National Council’s Parliamentary Committee on Habitat has expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the Kunene Regional Council on the implementation of the drought intervention programme. 
The committee visited the region last week Friday. The region had received N$21 million from the Office of the Prime Minister during the 2019/2020 financial year to mitigate the effect of the severe drought in the region. 
The intervention included drilling 13 boreholes in the seven constituencies. Contractors also installed 17 boreholes and rehabilitated 16. 
Regional council officials informed the oversight committee that most of the inhabitants of the region had access to potable water. The Kunene leadership also noted work on the drought projects was heavily impacted by the Covid-19, as material went out of stock. 
The committee was also informed that the Okatumba West project was still in the pipeline after the initial contractor abandoned the work due to difficult terrain. 
The village is still without water after its only boreholes were washed by floodwater during 2017. “As a council, we have made a decision to educate the newly identified contractor of the Okatumba West situation to avoid similar incidences from occurring,” said Kunene chief regional officer Emilia Alweendo. 
The committee was also informed that residents of Otjaparakaha, where 18 lives were lost a few years ago due to the Cholera outbreak, now had access to potable water after the Road Fund Administration paid for the drilling and installation of a borehole. 
The Kunene Regional Council chairperson, Julius Kaujova, said drought was still an issue in the region because there was no catchment to harvest water. 
Kaujova added the regional council was trying to mobilise funds to purchase a drilling rig.  
*Cecilia Xavier works for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in Opuwo