2013-09-26Mathias Haufiku "RUNDU - With the rainy season around the corner, it may only be a matter of time before Rundu’s leaking sewage ponds flow into the Kavango River. The sewage pump in Rundu's Kaisosi location, which was constructed in 2005, has not been functioning since June this year. Shared by Namibia, Angola and Botswana, the perennial Kavango River serves as a source of fresh water and fish to thousands of people and animals living along the river. Officials from the town council's technical department who spoke to New Era yesterday, said the pump station is experiencing mechanical problems that need to be repaired. ""The company that will repair the pump told us yesterday that their technicians are in Oshakati at the moment where they are fixing a sewer pump station. But they promised that by Saturday they will be in Rundu to attend to our sewer pump,"" the town council said. Although the town council recently build a new sewerage pond about 12.2 kilometres away from the town, it is still not in use due to a broken pump. However, residents fear that since all four sewage ponds are filled and are already leaking into a tributary that leads to the river less than a kilometre away, heavy downpours might cause the water to flow from the sewage ponds into the river. Just like Angola has an obligation to ensure that water flowing into Namibia is clean, Namibia also has an obligation to Botswana further downstream, because the river flows into the Okavango Delta, which was earlier this year named as one of the ""Seven Natural Wonders of Africa."" Yesterday, the town's deputy mayor Bonny Kahare, said a private company has been contracted to repair the sewage pump and if it is not done soon, than the town council will have to contract another company. ""This is an urgent matter, I did not know about it. But the colleagues in the technical department informed me that the contracted company would be here to do the repairs soon. The old ponds have recently been patched to avoid the sewage from leaking,"" said Kahare. ""Now that the pump is broken, the new pond in Tuhingireni is standing dry, because the sewage cannot be pumped as a result of the broken pump,"" said Kahare. Employees in the technical department stationed at the sewage pump station on the outskirts of town said the pump station is fitted with two water pumps, which are now both out of order. ""There are two pumps, one was send to Windhoek for repairs last year and now the second one has been broken since June. The ponds are full and with the rain coming soon, the sewage water might run into the river,"" said the officials. By Mathias Haufiku" 2013-09-26Mathias Haufiku
