The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts has directed the Keetmanshoop Municipality and Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA) to expedite their discussions to prevent further water and electricity supply disruption to the !Homs-Ai community market. 

Its Chairperson, Peter Kazongominja, gave the directive at a meeting held at Keetmanshoop, which was part of the committee's oversight visit to NIDA projects in the ||Kharas Region. 

The community market had its water and electricity supply suspended in December over unpaid municipal bills of close to N$3 million.

As a result, tenants vacated their stalls, putting the multimillion-dollar facility at risk of becoming a white elephant. 

The community market, run by NIDA, includes state-of-the-art joinery and garment factories, restaurants, retail shop space, and stalls for SMEs. 

The standing committee directed the parties involved to address the issues that led to the closure of the community market by March 15th. 

"Keetmanshoop Municipality, take the lead, have a council meeting, resolve whatever is there, around everything we have discussed here. We talk of pre-paid water and what, the exemptions, the current account, the none, the none because NIDA has brought us into this, NIDA is never coming back."