OMUTHIYA – A dolomite rock covering the town of Tsumeb has hindered the town’s development efforts for years, as demolishing it requires a huge budget and specialised skills.

According to the Tsumeb Municipality acting CEO Frans Enkali on Monday, due to the solid rock, the municipality was unable to dig trenches to electrify Kuvukiland informal location last year but managed to put up high mast lights.

“We are struggling to extend water pipes in some areas of the town as jackhammers cannot break the rock and we need only explosives (dynamite) the government regulates. In some places, the pipe can go five meters deep, but it is difficult, as this forces us sometimes to use an explosive that needs specialised experts,” said Enkali.

He added that servicing the land for development is very costly as the whole area is occupied by the rock, which makes it unable to dig trenches for water pipes and lay cables for electricity.

The acting CEO noted that the municipality wants to acquire explosives to improve the town’s development. “We tried applying for these explosives last year but it was very costly and we were delayed as it is a process that needs the government to spearhead,” he added.

He said the municipality no longer has enough land because most of the land is occupied by the mines and certain individuals such as farmers.

“There is no space where the municipality can develop a location as most of the land belongs to the mines and individuals such as farmers and we are forced to negotiate with them to give us land which often takes years,” said Enkali. He said if the municipality can resolve these challenges, everything can fall into place. -Nampa