Residents of Groot Aub are frustrated by the restrictive measures put up by the City of Windhoek (CoW) which do not permit them to drill boreholes.
Speaking to Nampa on Tuesday, Windhoek Rural Constituency Councillor and Landless People’s Movement (LPM) member Petrus Adams said that CoW has set up restrictive measures that prohibit private residents in Groot Aub from creating boreholes that could benefit the community.
“Private residents want to drill their boreholes to help the community with the water crisis but are restricted by CoW,” Adams said.
According to CoW spokesperson Harold Akwenye, these measures were taken to ensure that Groot Aub “develops in a controlled manner”.
He said that the restriction on drilling boreholes is to prevent the possibility of water contamination that might be experienced in Windhoek if the boreholes in Groot Aub are not made to standard.
“These measures were taken to ensure the best development for Groot Aub,” Akwenye said.
A resident who did not wish to be named said that she feels uneasy talking about the impact CoW has had on Groot Aub, but that she does feel that one of the biggest challenges they face in Groot Aub is the water crisis.
“I don’t agree with their (CoW) decision to take us (Groot Aub) from being a settlement to giving us a town status that falls under CoW. We could have benefited more as a village,” she said.
Another resident of Groot Aub, Maria Bantam said that the biggest challenge they face is an interrupted supply of water.
“The biggest problem is the water issue because the community is too big and not everyone receives water. We get water after every three days,” Bantam said.
She said there are certain areas in Groot Aub that have not been receiving water for the past two weeks.
According to the councillor, Adams, there was a reservoir set up in Groot Aub in 2006 that accommodated the needs of 6 000 people but currently, between 15 000 to 20 000 people are living in the area and the reservoir cannot address all the needs on the ground.
However, Akwenye rubbished claims of water shortage in Groot Aub saying: “I am not aware of such.”
(NAMPA)
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
