Rehoboth water restored

The parties yesterday in the Windhoek High Court announced that they have amicably reached an out of court settlement on the debt issue. Consequently, the town council indicated that they withdraw the urgent application seeking the immediate reconnection of water supply to the town.

Theo Jankowski, Chief Executive Officer of the Rehoboth Town Council, could not be drawn into commenting on the details of the terms of the settlement agreement between the two parties. He said it’s immature to divulge it now and that the council and NamWater will at a later stage release a statement about the issue.

He, however, confirmed that Government has stepped in to make funds available to NamWater after fruitful negotiations with the water utility. NamWater suspended water supply to Rehoboth on Monday this week in an effort to recover water debt of about N$30 million. The water supply also affected schools at the town.

The town council thereafter responded by taking NamWater to court for alleged breach of contract which the parties signed in 2011. The intervention agreement between the parties was to jointly administer the process of water distribution.

The current council, elected in December 2010, argued that it inherited an N$15 million debt from the previous town’s administration leading to the disputed water account with NamWater. Since then, they added, it has been difficult to settle the old water debt while at the same time settling the current water account.

Meanwhile, the town council had to move quick yesterday afternoon in dispelling rumours that residents could expect a power-cut and a possible re-occurrence of NamWater’s water cuts.

In an official statement released late yesterday afternoon, the council rubbished an SMS campaign it noted had spread throughout the day to that effect.