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.

Uutoni applauded the Erongo Regional Council for expressing sound leadership, management, and dedication to duty that has yielded tangible results, such as the Uis settlement office.

He further says that the regional councils are responding to the developmental needs of the people to steer a change in the service delivery cycle.

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.

The asbestos pipe that takes water to the Uis community was constructed in the late 1950s, but limescale has built up over time.

The Chief Regional Officer and his team assessed the water problem at Uis.

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.

Erongo Governor Neville Andre noted that the water crisis goes beyond Uis, saying it is affecting the whole of the Daures Constituency, and the government is working on transporting water from other areas.

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.

Tjekero Tweya informed Erongo Governor Neville Andre that the investigation shows that ministries, regional governments, and responsible agencies are not talking to each other to close the loopholes.

Six mines and energy subcommittee members under the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources paid a courtesy call on Erongo Governor Neville Andre.

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 committee is further concerned that there are no skills transfers happening because the Chinese nationals with qualifications, do not speak English. 

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources was informed by the management of the lithium mine, Longfire and Xingfeng Joint Venture, that critical skills are being transferred by the Chinese experts to Namibians. 

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

The committee was not satisfied with the answers given by the traditional leaders and threatened to subpoena the Daure Daman Traditional Authority to reveal the truth under oath.

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.

At the community meeting with the minister, they argued that some mines are not only illegal but are also not assisting locals to benefit from the natural resources mined there.

The residents stressed how Chinese-owned mining companies mistreat locals despite the millions of dollars they are collecting in revenue.

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.

Namibia is not for sale! Namibia is ours! These were the words of angry residents of a vast, empty, semi-arid desert area about 70 kilometers outside the settlement of Uis.

They are claiming that the company is exporting the country's resources in an exploitative manner.