The Otjozondjupa Regional Council has allocated over a million dollars to tackle the water and sewer reticulation issues at the Shack Dwellers Federation site in Kalkfeld.

The Council's Chairperson, Paulus Nekundi, said that although brick houses were built, many were not connected to the main pipelines, which is now something of the past.

In 2023, the houses were connected to the electricity grid for N$2 million.

"You can see that the settlement has grown and now features beautiful houses; however, the residents have faced challenges with the sewerage system and continue to experience issues with the water supply. The land was previously unserviced, but currently, the Regional Council has invested N$1.5 million in the water reticulation project that is now underway there."

On housing development, Nekundi expressed satisfaction with the progress of land servicing at the Dinosdal location, where the National Housing Enterprises will build houses.

"We are looking forward again to servicing the next phase, which is 61 erven, because the total erven that need to be serviced in that extension is 93. The goal is to enhance buying power for Kalkfeld, enabling it to become a village council within the next five years. This initiative empowers the residents to govern themselves and take charge of their developmental programmes and the future of their children."

Nekundi also commended government efforts to eradicate bucket toilets at the settlement.