Africa-Press – Namibia. RESIDENTS of Gibeon in the Hardap region owe the village council N$35,2 million.
To recover their losses, the village council started disconnecting defaulting clients’ water and electricity supplies last week. The village council owes NamWater a staggering N$13,2 million, and NamPower N$9,2 million.
Gibeon’s acting chief executive officer (CEO), Catherine Boois, last week said the disconnections were necessitated by the escalation of residents’ debt. Besides owing NamPower and NamWater, residents owe the village council N$12,9 million for services rendered.
“The debt has become unsustainable – especially for such a small village. Therefore the council needs to implement measures speedily to bring these debts under control, and to be in a position to provide residents with quality services,” Boois said.
She said some of the residents owe the council between N$10 000 and N$15 000, therefore the council can no longer afford to provide them with services.
Boois said there is a need to put systems and controls in place to assist the residents and the village council. “So far we have received positive reaction from the residents as many of them have now started paying,” she said.
In the past, these debts were between N$2 million and N$7 million, but since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, it has skyrocketed to N$13,2 million.
Residents have been given the option to pay a part of their debt to avoid suspension, and make arrangements to settle the remainder. Gibeon village, alongside Tses, Maltahöhe, Gochas, and Berseba, are known to have historical debts with NamWater.
These towns’ services have been suspended by the bulk supplier in the past. “A lot of the people who come to see us about their accounts say they are unemployed, and are therefore struggling to pay their dues,” Boois said.
Gibeon village has been without a substantive CEO for the past four years. Boois was seconded from the Mariental municipality this month, where she is the strategic executive for economic development and community affairs, to assist the village council for six months.
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