Namibia will soon implement a national water sector support program aimed at improving access, quality, and sustainability of the country's water supply and sanitation services.

Over the next five years, the project is expected to cost N$10 billion.

Agriculture Minister Carl Schlettwein announced the plans during a three-day regional conference on hydrology and water coordination at Swakopmund.

Schlettwein says the project would supply sufficient usable water until 2037.

The demand for water, he says, is set to almost double over the next five years, hence the need to develop additional sources, including through the desalination of seawater.

Namibia currently relies on ground, surface, and desalinated water sources.

"Water is a scarce resource and remains unevenly distributed in the country. Consequently, the security of the supply of water depends unequally on the availability of water. Given the disparity in natural water resource availability, a sophisticated and integrated infrastructure is required to bring clean water to places where it is not readily available," said Schlettwein, adding that "therefore, a secure water supply is not only dependent on water availability but equally on the financial and human capacities to develop, operate, and maintain the required infrastructure to bring clean water to all consumers. Development is possible only when all three—water, capital, and human resources—are sufficiently available."