KALIMBEZA – Rice seedlings at the Kalimbeza project are at great risk of wilting in the heat following a shortage of water at the government-owned farm.
The Kalimbeza rice project is located on the banks of the Zambezi River about 30 kilometres east of Katima Mulilo in Kabbe Constituency.
Kalimbeza has been without water for more than two weeks due to a broken pump station. Rice requires constant watering and water-logged soil.
Already about nine hectares of a variety of rice seedlings have been planted at the project but their growth has been stunted by the acute shortage of water.
The project expects to plant 90 hectares of rice this year. Small-scale farmers who have been allocated a combined 15 hectares face the same predicament with many of them losing hope of ever harvesting rice needed for their livelihood.
According to the manager of the project, which falls under the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Patrick Kompeli, the transplantation of rice has been subsequently suspended and workers were relying on drawing water from tanks to water the rice manually.
“We have been without water for more than two weeks now. We are trying our level best by taking water from the tank to water the rice,” added Kompeli.
It became clear at the site that a contractor has been enlisted to repair the pump station but the efforts have been stalled by some technicalities.
New parts were bought but the pump station’s computer system suffered glitches that required instructions from a manual, which could not be traced.
The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, John Mutorwa, who visited the project, intervened.
“It is not acceptable that a project like this should not have water for such a long time. Any green scheme is not a green scheme if there’s no water. We must fix whatever needs to be fixed and contact the company that installed it for clarification. By four o’clock today, I need a report on my table so that if it fails again today, we know what to do next,” Mutorwa instructed workers, the contractor and Kompeli at the site.
Mutorwa was equally disappointed with the slow progress in adding infrastructure, which includes storage for fertilisers and chemicals, a parking area and roads.
“I am very disappointed that none of what we discussed during our visit with the President has materialised. Six months have passed now without any progress. During the briefing the agreement was that the shades and other infrastructure would be up by the end of the year, but I don’t see that here,” stated a clearly infuriated Mutorwa.
“Even the combined harvester which was brought here in May is still standing here. And for this to happen it is just a matter of attaching components,” said Mutorwa.
However the consulting engineer, Farhad Nadimi of Bona Consultants, who are overseeing the installation of additional infrastructure at the project, said they faced logistic and technical challenges that resulted in the delay.
“We finalised the designs but were instructed to make adjustments to reduce the costs to N$12 million but the project is ready to go for tender now. If approved on time it would have been finalised in October already. We don’t know how long the tender process will take for everything to start,” said Nadimi. Mutorwa was however happy that small-scale farmers were allocated land. Five small-scale farmers were each allocated three hectares to cultivate.
“We only have five farmers from the original 10. We have to intensify training of these five and next time have additional farmers,” said Mutorwa.
But another concern of Mutorwa was vandalism of the fence at the project, with Mutorwa urging the community to guard against such destructive activities.
“I urge the community to ensure that vandalism of the fence stops. If this continues we will have no choice but to call the police so that those responsible are arrested,” emphasised Mutorwa.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba visited Kalimbeza early this year and was pleased with the infrastructural development at the project at that time. His hope was to inaugurate the additional infrastructure before he leaves office in March.
The project covers an area exceeding 200 hectares. It was declared a national project by Pohamba in 2009.
Hundreds of villagers at Kalimbeza and nearby villages work as seasonal workers at the project.