Nankali za Muserengwa
OMEGA 1, 16 May 2022 – The community of Omega 1 in Kavango East has been without water since November last year as the Mukwe constituency councillor is still trying his best to get ownership of the damaged borehole changed from private to the government before they do something.
According to a community member of Omega 1, Mashe Mushinga, their community has been struggling to get water since November last year and now they are receiving one bucket of water per household from their merciful headman as an alternative.
It takes about 12 hours to receive one bucket of water, “since we are many in the community without water, normally we used to go from 06h00 in the morning and come back at 18h00 in the evening,” said Mashe.
That one bucket of water had to be divided for cooking, washing children and their school uniforms.
“Some of us for the past seven months have not taken a shower since there’s no water. And we have informed our constituency councillor but since last year he didn’t do anything.”
Mashe continued that “those who are with a water meter in the community charge N$ 50 per day and this price includes doing laundry since the majority of us in the community do not work.”
The Omega community is comprised mainly of the San and Hambukushu, the majority of whom are unemployed. It is situated 70 km east of Divundu in the Mukwe constituency of Kavango East.
Contacted for comment, Mukwe constituency councillor, Damian Maghambayi, said he is fully aware of the matter and so far he has approached the department of rural water supply in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, and Land reform in Kavango East, only to be informed that the borehole cannot be fixed as it’s on privately-owned property.
Maghambayi said the borehole was donated to the community by a private person who is now deceased.
“The councillor’s office has applied to rural water supply for the borehole to be formalised under rural water supply boreholes,” Maghambayi said.
He continued that another issue affecting the water supply is low water pressure as it’s a solar power machine and tanks need to be lifted up to increase water pressure.
His office has also applied for two more new boreholes to be drilled in Omega, the councillor said.
For now, the community is also getting water from Omega Police Station – Namibia Daily News.
