Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Omaruru Town Council has committed to helping the Daures community after its plea for water. In an era where washing of hands is crucial in preventing the spread of Covid-19, the Omaruru Town Council started supplying free water to the Omatjete Primary School, which had to close for a week about a month ago due to water scarcity at the school.
“We resolved to assist the people of Daures constituency, and started with Omatjete Primary School because they were hard-hit by the water issue. So, we will continue to support the people of Daures constituency,” said the Omaruru mayor, Roger Nautoro, during a council meeting on Monday.
“Even though it is beyond our jurisdiction, we have committed ourselves to assist. Just because of the pupils, we have decided to look beyond the jurisdiction,” added Nautoro.
The move by Omaruru Town Council is a response to a request from the senior traditional councillor of the Zeraeua Traditional Authority, Fabianus Uaseuapuani, to refill water tanks of the Namibian Defence Force truck to supply water to Omatjete village. The tank was to be filled up every time the truck was at Omaruru for refuelling.
Omatjete and its surrounding villages have for years suffered water shortages. Rivers, wells and boreholes that supplied these villages with water have dried up. The problem worsened about a month ago for Omatjete village, as they only had one functioning borehole that supplies them with little water.
The boreholes need maintenance and replacement of cylinders. “We have to skip at least a day so that we can have water the next day. That is how we are trying to keep ourselves alive with the little water,” said Uaseuapuani. He added that although the truck has been made available, they have to fill these tanks themselves regularly.
“Although the regional council’s office gave us an NDF truck, we have to get the water pumped into the truck. Which is so difficult, as the pump and the engine are not functioning. Our people have to provide diesel, which they cannot afford,” said Uaseuapuani. Uaseuapuani appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to assist them with sourcing water on a larger scale.
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