Stakeholders in Namibia's north-central regions held a consultative meeting and raised the need to improve water infrastructure and the construction of new water treatment plants and desalination plants as a way to address the demand for potable water.
The meeting held at Outapi in the Omusati Region also raised concerns about low water pressure, ageing infrastructure, and unsuitable underground water due to salinity.
"There are pipelines everywhere, but the system that brings water to feed this many pipelines is the same that was in place before independence, and therefore we are working hard now to replace all that old infrastructure, either canals, treatment plants, or pump stations. We are replacing all of them so that we can be able to catch up with demand and have the capacity to supply, which is higher than the available demand," said NamWater CEO Abraham Nehemia.
Other challenges faced in the northern regions are rampant theft of water infrastructure, vandalism, and a lack of tank trucks to ferry water to the water-starved communities.
There is an estimated N$3 million needed to construct short-kilometre water pipelines in Ohangwena and N$44 million for the construction of booster pumps in the same region.
"We have about 1,439 water points in the region; 360 are boreholes, while 1,077 are water point pipelines. We have also connected about 12,284 individual households as private offtakes in the region," explained Lazarus Shikololo, the acting Deputy Director for Rural Supply.
He added that N$15 million is also needed to drill new boreholes at about 30 villages in the region, as well as N$40.5 million to set up a desalination plant at the already drilled boreholes with salty water.
Omusati Governor Erginus Endjala wants a lasting solution to water problems.
"Omusati stands at 88.9% compared to Oshana with 98.0%, Oshikoto and Ohangwena with 90.2% and 84.3%, respectively, when it comes to the provision of safe drinking water. Although we have good indicators in terms of statistics, many taps continue to be dry for a long time due to low pressure or even not accessible at all when it comes to water supply."