By Lylie Happiness
OSHAKATI, 18 APRIL – With Oshakati still receiving rain at this time of the year, residents are in fear of catching malaria in the town that used to hold the record for the highest number of cases.
Houses at the Evululuko informal settlement are surrounded by stagnant water, and the area is overgrown with grass, leaving residents in the highly-populated area living a most uncomfortable life from all the mosquitoes.
One Evululuko resident, with fear in her eyes, said people had not been able to sleep at all, not even in the afternoon, as they were being bitten constantly and feared catching the mosquito-borne disease.
She said one needed to wear long trousers, long socks, and something covering the arms to try and prevent bites.
“I have been a resident of Evululuko for over seven years but I have never seen this kind of small black mosquito before.
“They are stressing us out day and night, you can’t be sitting and not beating yourself. We need help, we want the municipality and Ministry of Health to help us,“ she said calling for an indoor residential spraying programme, bodies of water to be fumigated, and mosquito nets.
“We need nets because not all of us can afford to buy. We are really afraid of our children getting malaria. We need help, we tried cleaning up our places but nothing has changed, we are being bitten every second”. – Namibia Daily News
