Pipeline in Kunene nears completion

Construction on the Ohamaremba-Okangwati pipeline in the Kunene Region is 79% completed and the project is expected to be completed by the end of July.

This will provide potable water to the Okanguati settlement from the Ohamaremba aquifer, agriculture, water and land reform minister Calle Schlettwein said.

Speaking at the commemoration of World Wetlands Day and World Water Day in Opuwo on Thursday, Schlettwein said 31 production boreholes were installed during the 2023/24 financial year.

The installation of 9 successfully drilled boreholes is ongoing, and 27 existing boreholes have contractors on-site busy with rehabilitation.

This brings the total number of active boreholes to 682, the minister said.

The construction of two mini desalination plants was completed at Condor in the Sesfontein constituency and Petrusfontein constituency, respectively.

The modernisation of traditional wells with solar systems is ongoing, Schlettwein said.



Priority

Water must become one of the highest priorities in Namibia’s development plans, Schlettwein said.

“If we further neglect this life-sustaining element, we shall stifle development and prosperity,” he added.

“I am convinced that the time has come that we must consider access to water a basic human right. We have the right to live, which becomes moot if water is unavailable. The right to water, therefore, must be accepted,” Schlettwein continued.

According to the minister: “For Namibia, therefore, our priorities must remain to ensure that every Namibian has access to safe water of adequate quantity and acceptable quality and safe and pollution-free sanitation.”