Calle Schlettwein, minister of agriculture, water, and reform, officially unveiled the reconstruction of the Omahenene-Olushandja water canal, at the Omahenene border post.
The Cunene River near the Calueque Dam in southern Angola is fed by a 150 km canal. It is said that the canal was established in the 1970s. It supplies water to the Oshakati treatment plant. The northern regions of Namibia receive water from the canal.
Schlettwein stated during the opening ceremony that the canal’s design capacity varies from 10 cubic meters per second for the first stretch from Omahanene to Olushandja to 13 cubic meters per second at Oshakati.
Why the Omahenene-Olushandja water canal was established
Schlettwein said that the Omahenene-Olushandja water canal was established to meet the needs of irrigated agricultural production. Also it was built to provide potable water for the Namibian people in that region of the country. The minister claims that the reconstruction of the canal began in February and was recently completed.
According to Schlettwein, supplying water is one of the government’s key objectives. This is why the project to develop and upgrade water infrastructure, estimated to cost N$10 billion, has been approved. He said that the funding will be used to extend a secure water supply to every part of the country up to 2037.
He stated that NamWater was working on finalizing designs for major projects in the north of Namibia. The projects include new water treatment facilities at Oshakati and Rundu. It was also planning to establish pipeline networks and related infrastructure which is expected to extract water from the Ohangwena II Aquifer.
The police, traditional authority leaders, and also community leaders were urged by the minister to continue taking strict action against individuals vandalizing the canal.
Schlettwein recommended that mechanisms be put in place to let small-scale farmers extract water from the canal under controlled circumstances. The measures are also to prevent activities damaging NamWater’s and the government’s goals.
