Africa-Press – Namibia. THE government has budgeted to purchase another 3 9 00 hectares of land that it requires for the Neckartal irrigation project, while the implementation of the project is set to take place in about two months.
The land is owned by farmers in the vicinity of the dam, located about 45km south-west of Keetmanshoop in the //Kharas region.
Deputy executive director of agriculture, water and land reform Penda Ithindi says the government requires 5 000ha of land for an economically viable scheme, of which 477ha has already been bought and the land ownership transferred.
Ithindi announced this at Lüderitz during an information-sharing session and consultative meeting with //Kharas governor Aletha Frederick, regional and local authority councillors and community members recently.
He said the government has obtained farmers’ agreement for a further 3 900ha it has made budgetary provision for, and which is currently with conveyancers to be signed off.
“Since we are at this stage it makes us believe that in about two months’ time we should be able to start with the process of implementing the project, as securing the land first is important.
“The good thing is we are not held back by the requirement of the full 5 000ha as long as we obtain an economic size of land,” Ithindi said.
The government has paid over N$298 000 for the first 477ha, and has budgeted another N$2,4 million for the 3 900ha, he said.
Negotiations are still ongoing with farmers for the remaining 602ha hectares.
“We are proactively engaging the partnering farmers and conveyancers to acquire the land and finalise the transfers of ownership,” Ithindi said.
Currently the plan is to put out a request for proposals for the development of the irrigation scheme to obtain an operator to build, operate and transfer the project back to locals, he said.
The operator could be local, international or a combination of both, he said.
Ithindi said the land at the Neckartal Dam is virgin land, making it a brown-field investment.
Such a development requires attracting the right investor, the right skills and the financial and management ability to drive the project profitably, he said.
“Our thinking is to copy the green hydrogen route and put Neckartal out on request for proposals (RFP), and obtain a suitable operator.
“RFPs are a tested process which we feel can work, however, we are open to consultation and input from the community,” he said.
Other options are to divide the land into units that locals can lease and operate, Ithindi said.
The Neckartal irrigation project is aimed at increasing agriculture production, food security and self-sufficiency as a country, and to diversify into high-value crops, as well as employment creation.
The dam was built at a cost of over N$5,6 billion and is currently the biggest dam in the country at a capacity of 800 million cubic metres.
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