MET, MURD and stakeholders fail at sewer management: Kandjeke

WINDHOEK, 10 JUL  – The Directorate of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) and key stakeholders failed to ensure that local authorities, with the exception of the City of Windhoek, developed and submitted management environmental plans (EMPs) for their sewerage systems.
This is according to an audit report by Auditor General, Junias Kandjeke.
The 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 performance audit report on sewerage management by local authorities in Namibia was tabled in the National Assembly by Finance Minister, Calle Schlettwein last week.
“The audit found that the Department of Environment Affairs under the environment ministry did not ensure that local authorities develop and submit EMPs for sewerage infrastructure,” Kandjeke said.
Documentary reviews by the auditor reveal that all local authorities visited at the time of the audit, except for Windhoek, had not developed EMPs for sewerage reticulation systems.
“This is because the DEA only started sensitising local authorities on the Environmental Management Act, 2007 (Act No. 7 of 2007) during the 2015/16 financial year (FY),” he noted.
Rundu, Ondangwa, Ongwediva and Oshakati town councils received letters requesting them to develop and submit their EMPs during the 2015/16 FY.
However, at the time of the audit (2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16), these local authorities had not complied.
The auditors visited six regions, Khomas, Erongo, Hardap, Kavango East, Kavango West and Oshana.
The report further found that the Directorate of Water and Forestry under the agriculture ministry failed to adequately monitor local authorities to ensure compliance with the Wastewater Effluent Exemption Disposal Permit standards.
Additionally, the Housing, Habitat, Planning and Technical Services Coordination, which spent over N. dollars 3.8 billion during the period in question did not sufficiently monitor sewerage infrastructures undertaken by local authorities.
The coordination, which falls under the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, did not ensure that the sewerage infrastructure was adequate to cater for all households, nor that it was well-maintained.
In the report, Kandjeke found a plethora of other shortcomings associated with sewerage systems at various local authorities.
Chiefly, the AG found that households are not connected to the sewage reticulation system; faulty installation of sewage collection chambers and inadequate sewage reticulation systems.
He also established that there was a failure to collect, treat and dispose of sewage with valid environmental clearances certificates and the usage of the toilet bucket system and open defecation in some areas.
This is contravention of the Environmental Act of 2007, Kandjeke noted.
The purpose of the audit was to assess whether the MET, Ministry of Urban and Rural Development and other key stakeholders were effectively ensuring the adequacy of sewerage infrastructure and subsequently the proper management of sewage and its impact on the environment.
(NAMPA)