The Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, says the newly inaugurated Uis Settlement Office is a clear testament to bringing services close to the people.

The office was constructed at a cost of N$11 million.

Uis in the Daures constituency of Erongo Region needs about N$1.5 million to overcome the water problem at the settlement.

Erongo Chief Regional Officer Mupenzeni Ntelamo says the old asbestos pipe that takes water from the Namwater reservoir to Uis is clogged with limescale.

As Namibia continues to mitigate the effects of drought and climate change over the past decades, the residents of Uis in Erongo Region are grappling with a dire water shortage crisis.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources says the findings from the investigation into illegal lithium mining at Uis indicate that there are some loopholes in the law that need fixing.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources is dismayed by the disparities in accommodation for Chinese nationals and Namibians who work at a lithium mine near Uis.

The Daure Daman Traditional Authority struggled to answer questions by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources regarding illegal lithium mining at Uis.

Residents of Omatjete Settlement and surrounding villages in the Daures Constituency have joined in the fray to get the Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo, to keenly look into dealings of small-scale mines and license holders.

Hundreds of residents of Uis and Daures Constituencies staged a demonstration against alleged illegal mining and exploitation of natural resources as well as environmental damage by the Chinese-owned Tangshan Xingfeng Spodumene Mining Company.