Residents of Kavango West fear the region could miss development if the government proceeds with the Kavango-Grootfontein water link project.

The concern was raised during a community meeting with the consultants at Mururani.

The Councillor of Ncamagoro Constituency, Tomas Reging, said, "These are duplications of activities. That's why we want the urgency of this so that we can at least have these boreholes drilled somewhere far away, not along the road, knowing that there will be a pipeline for Namwater."

"The level of understanding differs if we cannot understand the language of consultancy regarding this project. 'You were supposed to consult the chairperson, the governor and other leaders before coming here, and we could maybe even assist in passing a clear message to our people,' added Augustinius Kupembona, Councillor of Kapako Constituency.

The Kavango-Grootfontein water project aims to alleviate water shortage.

Research found that sourcing water from the Kavango River is cost-effective, with plans to harvest 35 million cubic metres annually during the rain season.

The 276 kilometre pipeline includes a pump station in Rundu and four booster stations at Masivi, Mururani and two in Grootfontein.

The project is estimated to cost around N$8 billion.

A water engineer from Element Engineering, James Tena, highlighted that 'proactive' means that at policy level, at high level, decisions need to be taken to create opportunities outside the central areas of Namibia to create opportunities there for people to work. We can convey the message, and we will, to the respective parties to answer that, but it's not our mandate."

Prof. Tomas Chiramba, of RFM Consultant, also added this: "But moving forward once that draft of the report is out and the ESMP is out, we will share it with the regional council for the leadership to make comments on it and for your inputs."