Africa-Press – Namibia. THE second phase of the ongoing multibillion-dollar Neckartal irrigation project will cost taxpayers an additional N$2,4 billion.
The initial phase of the project was completed at a cost N$5,6 billion in 2018.
Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein, who is currently on a consultative tour of the //Kharas region, told traditional leaders and other stakeholders that the first phase of the project is now complete.
“The dam is a catalyst for public investment in bulk water supply, intensive agriculture and other spin-offs,” he said.
The dam will increase economic growth and spin-offs for Keetmanshoop in terms of logistics, packaging and storage, he said.
“[There should be] increased productive capacity and export earnings from high-value crops and fruits, greater inclusivity, job creation, income, and about 1 000 temporary jobs during the construction stage,” he said.
The first phase of the project includes close to 19 000 hectares of land purchased in the //Kharas region between 2013 and 2018.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform has been allocated a total of N$2,4 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, a 22,1% increase from last year for the second phase, which requires building canals, spill points, and booster pump stations.
Neckartal is the largest dam in the country, with almost twice the total capacity of existing major dams. Its current water level stands at 94,4% capacity as of Tuesday this week.
Schlettwein said the project will create about 12 600 permanent and seasonal jobs for envisaged irrigation schemes.
The ministry conducted a feasibility study in 2010 and identified more than 5 000ha of irrigable land on the southern and northern sides of the B4 road, between Keetmanshoop and Lüderitz, east of Seeheim.
The irrigable land is estimated to be approximately 4 250ha or 85% of the required 5 000ha.
Recently, Schlettwein dismissed criticism that the government wasted money in acquiring unproductive land around the dam.
He said the wasteland is where support infrastructure, such as for water distribution, will be built.
“Hence, other value chain activities such as feedlots, cold rooms, and intensive animal farming could be carried out on other portions of land, which a layman’s eye could regard as wasteland,” he said.
“Our decision to acquire the said farms was guided by the technical soil suitability assessment findings.
Investment in and operation of the green schemes entail a host of other ancillary infrastructure across the value chain for which land is needed,” he said.
The dam has the potential to generate a half to two megawatt of hydropower.
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