WATER MATTERS: A desalination plant is being considered for northern Namibia.
WATER MATTERS: A desalination plant is being considered for northern Namibia.

Govt approves feasibility study for northern desalination plant

African Development Bank grant to fund study
Cabinet has approved a feasibility study for a new desalination plant for the northern regions of Namibia.
Ogone Tlhage
Government is laying the preparatory groundwork and will proceed with a feasibility study to assess the viability of constructing a desalination plant in northern Namibia.

Information minister Emma Theofelus announced during a Cabinet briefing that the project will be funded by a grant provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“Cabinet took note that the feasibility study for the Northern Desalination Plant will be carried out to be funded by the AfDB grant. Cabinet approved that a feasibility study to be conducted of the new desalination plant for the northern regions of Namibia,” Theofelus said.

Long-term water supply plans

Touching on other water-related matters, Theofelus said the ministry of agriculture had been instructed to notify the Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (Okacom) about planned measures to develop the Okavango Link Project.

“Cabinet approved the prioritisation of the long-term water supply, the Okavango-Link and desalination projects to ensure water supply security to the north central regions, southern regions, north-eastern regions, Erongo Region and the Central Areas of Namibia (CAN),” Theofelus said.

Funding was also approved in principle, for a long-term water supply solution from the Okavango River with a volume of 32 million cubic metres (m3) per annum, Theofelus announced.

“Cabinet took note that further studies to assess and investigate the feasibility of supplying potable water to [the] southern regions through pipelines from the integrated southern dams,” she said.

Other projects that would also receive priority include upgrades to the Berg Aukas pumps and the Gammams and Otjomuise sewage plants to address the security of water supply to the CAN.

“Cabinet further took note that despite several ongoing short- and medium-term projects, the CAN is still expected to experience severe water supply shortages in the next four to seven years should a viable long-term water supply solution not become available,” she said.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-22

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