ONGWEDIVA - While several constituencies in Ohangwena Region are without water pipelines, the region has prioritised the provision of water to ensure all residents have access to potable water.
The region is thus looking into means to accelerate implementation of the much anticipated aquifer water in Ohangwena.

Use of the aquifer is direly needed in Ohangwena as the region plans to extend its water provision to areas of Epembe, Oshikunde and Okongo in eastern Ohangwena.

These areas currently have no access to piped water and are in need of potable water.
Currently the aquifer only supplies 40 cubic metres (the equivalent of 40, 000 litres) of water per hour to Eenhana through three boreholes.

The capacity of estimated water volumes of water in the Ohangwena aquifer has ballooned to 20 billion cubic metres, from an earlier estimate of 5 billion cubic metres in 2017.

The revelation of the acceleration of future usage of the aquifer in the region was made at the meeting with the Khomas Regional Council this week.

The delegation from Khomas was in the region to benchmark and share best practices to implement projects especially in the rural set-up.

The chief regional officer for Khomas Region, Clement Mafwila, said the visit to the regions is geared towards improving service delivery and inter-governmental relations.

Mafwila said the two regions, Ohangwena and Khomas, share similar challenges especially that of people falling between urban and rural boundaries particularly with the extension of the capital city to Groot Aub.

“We want to learn where to draw the line from other local authorities and see how best we can deliver services to all our residents without neglecting the people between the rural and urban set-up,” Mafwila related.

From Ohangwena, Khomas is also expected to visit Oshana, Erongo and //Kharas regions.
The region is also looking at introducing floodwater harvests for green schemes.