Construction work to improve piped water supply in Namibia will benefit from a project worth US $10.23m to supply the Otjimbingwe settlement in Erongo region, Central Namibia. The project is going on as planned and is set to be complete in 2016.
This construction project was launched in 2014 by the Minister for Agriculture, water and Forestry, John Mutorwa and it is expected to supply water to Otjimbingwe from the Swakoppoort dam through to Karibib water treatment plant.
This project comes in as part of the Government of Namibia’s plans to improve piped water supply in Namibia to meet the United Nation’s Millennium Development target of having the number of people who are without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation reduced by 2015. At the moment, the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) supplies bulk water to Otjimbingwe and other farming posts though the 92 000ha of communal area.
According to the CEO for BanWater, Vaino Shivute, analyses that have been done by his company indicate that the Otjimbingwe region experienced serious water problems. This was brought to the attention of the company by the Department of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.
Shivute further noted that the boreholes in the area were in a bad condition due to poor installation and some of the boreholes were not being used.
He indicated that infrequent recharging of groundwater and over abstraction of the aquifer will result to not being able to meet future demands.
However, construction plans to supply the community with high quality water had begun and the aim was to improve on water security through use of bulk water pipelines, pump stations and storage reservoirs.
