Ongwediva
The councillor of Otamanzi Constituency in Omusati Region Johannes Iyambo is pleading with the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry to put up a bulk water pipeline to ensure a fair distribution of water in the constituency.
At present, residents are forced to drink salty water from self-drilled boreholes or travel long distances to acquire water of better quality.
The constituency councillor said some people are now forced to buy water from nearby villages and also have to pay for transport to ferry the water.
The livestock are also required to walk between 15-20 kilometres to drink water.
“Water scarcity is a serious concern in the constituency. The people do not have water and as a result travel long distances to purchase water,” said the constituency councillor.
While there are community taps in place in the constituency, acquiring water still remains a challenge because the taps are dry during the day and only have water running at night.
Iyambo said there is not sufficient pressure to pump water during the day and as a result the community can only collect water at night.
“The water does not reach the communities during the day, so they have to wait until at night when the majority of the people are asleep and only then can the community collect water, however they have to travel long distances too,” expressed Iyambo.
Iyambo said the said taps in the community are not enough for the whole community as they only represent 48 percent.
He said the large mass of 62 percent of the community does not have potable water.
According to Iyambo, the number of people without access to potable water is always on the increase as the area has a high influx of people relocated from nearby towns to pave way for development.
The constituency councillor said the request for a bulk water pipeline has already been submitted – however due to financial constraints his office is still waiting for a response.