Residents of the Butterfly Location in Katima Mulilo are calling for urgent intervention to address years of sewage-contaminated floodwater around their homes.

They say repeated appeals to the Katima Mulilo Town Council have yielded no permanent solution.

For more than four years, some residents have lived with stagnant sewage-contaminated water surrounding their homes, a situation they say becomes worse whenever the rainy season arrives.

"It is a situation that is very worrisome because we have kids; we've been telling them, asking them even to this effect about this water because this is sewage water, and we stay with kids here, but there hasn't been any solution to that," stated Butterfly Location resident Braster Kakula.

He says he has opened several job cards with the Katima Mulilo Town Council requesting repairs, but no assistance has been provided. 

Kakula further claims that a septic tank installed by the Town Council as a temporary solution has not been emptied for several months.

He says multiple proposals have been put forward to address the recurring flooding, including constructing a drainage channel to redirect storm water and reopening a blocked natural water passage. 

However, none of these interventions have been implemented.

Residents also argue that the area should have been properly serviced before residential plots were allocated.

"It's either they service it or they tell you that you are not supposed to build here. We are not giving this land to people because it's not serviced and we can't service it, but either way we were given this, and then because we were desperate, we wanted a place, and then we got a place. After all that, we are suffering."

Kakula further claims that the flooding worsened after houses were built, blocking the natural route through which storm water previously flowed.

Reached for comment, Katima Mulilo Town Council Spokesperson Muyoba Muyoba said he would engage the council management on questions shared by the news team regarding the matter; however, no response has been given yet despite multiple follow-ups.