Africa-Press – Namibia. KARASBURG East councillor Anseline Beukes on Monday urged community members in the Warmbad area of the //Kharas region to be patient in terms of the delivery of basic services to the community.
Beukes said within the current economic challenges facing the country, the demands on the ground from communities far outweigh the scarce resources available in the fiscus to make provision for development budgets.
She was speaking at the handover of 50 toilets and the electrification of 38 households at Witdrift and Rooikoppies, including street lights, at a cost of N$3,5 million.
“My dear community, it is important for me to emphasise that even these achievements are milestones as the funding available is a drop in the bucket.”
Beukes said the youth must understand that development and the provision of services go hand in hand with funding, and obtaining funding takes time due to competing priorities across regions, as well as nationally.
She urged the community to take care of the infrastructure and not utilise backyard mechanics to fix their electrical boxes, in order to avoid damages that would eat into funding that could be used to sponsor additional projects.
“Nothing happens overnight. The budget is a difficult balancing act and it is not easy to obtain funding. Still, I salute our administrators and leadership. You all are a team playing your part until you can get a goal. And many times you are only running and kicking with no results,” said Beukes.
The rural electrification and provision of toilets utilised funding from the //Kharas Regional Council’s rural development budget.
The projects were initiated in the 2020/2021 financial year.
Beukes said electricity is not a luxury but a basic necessity as it improves household management, keeps people informed on developments through television and radio, and supports business development.
“The people in these areas always had to collect wood to make a fire to cook something to eat. They could not iron their clothing; at night women and children walked in the dark to relieve themselves, as there were no toilets, nor street lights. But this is now coming to an end,” said Beukes.
Phase two of the rural sanitation project to provide an additional 30 toilets to farms such as Guchabes and Lekkerlag has started, she said.
Warmbad-West is home to more than 300 households, Rooikoppies – 50 households and Witdrift – 20 households.
These farms mostly house pensioners and farmworkers.
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