PERSISTENT water woes will soon be a thing of the past for residents of the Groot Aub settlement south of Windhoek.
The growing settlement has for some time experienced water shortages, with some farmers allegedly losing thousands of chickens and other livestock because of the challenges.
However, the challenges that have negatively impacted on food security and general hygiene, are being rectified after the City of Windhoek drilled a 200-metre borehole last week in collaboration with their strategic partner - the water ministry.
“But that’s not all, the mission continues with plans for seven more boreholes, aiming to put an end to water shortages in Groot Aub,” reads an update from the City.
While visiting the settlement last year, agriculture minister Calle Schlettwein and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni discussed the water crisis and how to remedy the situation.
The ministers noted that Groot Aub residents were hard-hit by a City of Windhoek moratorium on drilling boreholes, new construction as well as other developmental activities. The moratorium was issued when the City of Windhoek officially assumed responsibility for administration of the settlement.
Towards the end of last year, a report stated that there were 46 privately owned boreholes in the settlement.
However, government officials clarified they have engaged owners for the boreholes to be rehabilitated to effectively distribute water to the entire community.
Uutoni pledged that the government is committed to resolving the matter.
“Therefore, for us to resolve the matter constructively, we will focus on rehabilitating what is already there and once we are done, we will ask the city to lift the moratorium,” Uutoni explained at the time.