The National Council’s standing committee on habitat has recommended that Namibia should hold a national water indaba to discuss the country’s water issues. The committee made the recommendation in its report released after a visit to the Zambezi, Kavango East, Kavango West, Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto, Kunene, Hardap and //Kharas regions to determine the extent to which citizens have access to potable water, particularly in rural areas. The report said Namibia, being a drought-prone country, should reserve boreholes to be used during drought periods. “The declaration of drought should be accompanied by enough funds to help the affected communities, money should be allocated for the construction of earth dams to curtail the dependency on boreholes, especially in regions with saline water,” the members of parliament (MPs) said. The MPs also advised the Government to have a pipeline to supply water from the Kavango River through to Okongo. When allocating budgets, the Government should “consider the vastness of a given region as challenges are in relation to the size of each region”. During its tour to the regions, the committee paid special attention to the status of previously malfunctioning boreholes, curbing dependency on saltwater boreholes, and the state of boreholes drilled under a drought relief donation by the South African government. In 2013, it was reported that the South African government donated N$100 million for Namibia’s drought relief programme. Part of these funds appears to have been used to drill boreholes. “Some regions benefited from the donation with the aim of providing potable water to the communities,” the report states, adding that 31 were yet to be completed. “Lack of potable water in certain areas was compounded by the fact that much of the underground water had been rendered undrinkable by high alkaline levels of the soil,” reads another section. More so, the committee said most Namibians have to travel long distances to access water points. “As for now, the distance for livestock to boreholes is 7 kilometres and for human beings, 2,5 km,” the politicians said. The report covers the 2019/20 financial period. -NAMPA