The Outjo Municipality is expanding the existing open market to accommodate more vendors who usually sell on the sidewalks.

Outjo is a town of more than six thousand inhabitants and is best known as the main gateway to one of Africa's largest national parks, Etosha.

The town receives an increasing number of visitors on a daily basis.

The sidewalks are, however, filled with vendors, making it difficult for them to serve their purpose of keeping people off the roads.

The Outjo Municipality has drilled three more boreholes in an effort to address the water shortage in the town.

For the past four years, the underground water in Outjo has been going down as a result of subduction.

"It's a natural process that takes place underground, which can be because of weathering, chemical, biological, or physical, and they are still getting water, but sometimes we have to close so that the water can be opened in intervals so that they can at least get water," said Outjo Mayor Johannes Bapello.

The Outjo Municipality says it continues to be challenged in terms of water provision in the town due to low water pressure.

Mayor Johannes Bapello delivered his 2022 mayor's report at Outjo.

Bapello reports that the water level has been declining due to poor rainfall, and as such, the council has embarked on drilling new boreholes and plans to deepen existing ones through the 'Droom vir Outjo' initiative.