MEETING: Residents of Rundu at the Rundu Town Council’s budget consultative meeting held at the Rundu Trade Fair Centre. Photo Nikanor Nangolo
MEETING: Residents of Rundu at the Rundu Town Council’s budget consultative meeting held at the Rundu Trade Fair Centre. Photo Nikanor Nangolo

Rundu residents demand better service delivery

Water supply under pressure as population grows
The Rundu Town Council has revealed that residents owe approximately N$409 million, which severely hinders their capacity to provide improved services.
Nikanor Nangolo
Rundu residents on Tuesday expressed concerns about the delay and level of services provided by the town council and called for improved service delivery.

Residents raised their concerns at a consultative meeting where council presented a proposed capital budget of N$81 million and proposed tariffs for the 2024–2025 financial year.

Rundu resident Steven Kihemba questioned why certain areas have not been surveyed, while another resident, Kashiti Johannes, raised the water crisis at Tuhingireni, questioning whether the council has a plan to activate the prepaid meters to enable residents to purchase water.

Pay your dues

Despite these concerns, the Rundu Town Council’s executive for infrastructure, planning and technical services, Sakaria Shopati, maintained that the council operates on a cost-recovery basis. Council revealed that residents owe approximately N$409 million and that the debt has severely hindered the council's capacity to provide improved services.

Responding to the surveying question, particularly in Ndama Extension 15, Shopati said: “We surveyed 2 161 plots, and I'm sure most, if not all, of you who own these plots have not paid anything to the council for their value. Hence, why council aims to formalise the area, collect money, and then we will be able to invest in servicing the land. This is why we are encouraging the community to pay their dues so we can extend the municipal infrastructure in those areas.”

Water under pressure

On the water situation, Shopati said: "It is undeniably true that the population growth in Rundu has surpassed the water demand capacity. The current water capacity is less than the consumption rate per hour. Therefore, we have seen interventions by the council to drill more boreholes. We also recently completed a study and identified potential sites for 38 boreholes, which will be funded by the agriculture ministry and partly by the council. These are some of the interventions we have come up with."

He added: “Currently, we are suffering from low [water] pressure and inadequate capacity. Once the drilling and installation of these boreholes are done, we plan to erect some pre-paid stands as a short-term solution. We have various pre-paid stands in Ndama that are not functioning correctly due to dead batteries, faulty valves, or low water pressure,” he said.

He said the municipality also plans to install booster lines and that NamWater has appointed a contractor to build a larger water reservoir to increase the volume in Rundu’s water reticulation network.

“We ask for your patience and encourage you to pay your dues so the council can reinvest the collected funds back into the community,” Shopati added.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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