Standoff over water pipeline

Towns in the Erongo Region have been asked by the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) to fork out millions for making use of its newly constructed water pipeline.
The pipeline carries desalinated water from Areva Namibia’s Erongo desalination plant at Wlotzkasbaken to the Langer Heinrich, Rössing Uranium and Husab mines. Towns such as Swakopmund and Arandis, which are located along the pipeline, also make use of the desalinated water carried by the pipeline.
According to councillor Wilfried Groenewald of the Swakopmund municipality, NamWater issued the town council with a N$74 million bill without prior consultation.
“We were not informed that we had to pay for using the pipeline. Now we are being threatened by NamWater that we will be rationed and our water supply will be cut by 25% if we do not pay that amount. Our industries will suffer if there is no water and this will be disastrous to us all,” said Groenewald during an information sharing meeting held in Swakopmund about the water supply to the coast.
The mayor of Arandis, Daniel Muhuura, said that as part of an agreement with NamWater, all the money the town generates through water goes directly to NamWater.
“We are now also required to pay an increased rate to NamWater and on top of that we were slapped with a bill of N$11 million for making use of the pipeline. There was no prior consultation or communication from NamWater. They sit comfortably there, just dishing out bills and we as local authorities have to explain to our residents why they have to pay more for water,” said Muhuura.
He appealed to the minister of agriculture, water and forestry, John Mutorwa, who was present at the information sharing session, to ask the Namibian government to subsidise the additional costs.
“We cannot perform miracles, where are we supposed to get this money from? We are not happy that NamWater did not consult us, but is now expecting us to pay,” he said.
NamWater’s CEO, Dr Vaino Shivute, admitted that NamWater did not consult with or inform local authorities about the payment for the use of its pipeline. He, however, said it was necessary for NamWater to recover the costs of building the pipeline from its clients because the government’s subsidy was not enough.
“When the decision was taken to build the pipeline which cost us about N$500 million, the government said it would pay a certain amount and NamWater would cover the remaining amount. Government could, however, not pay the money they promised they would pay and that is why we asked the mines and local authorities to pay the outstanding amount,” he said.
According to Shivute, the amount charged to its clients for the use of the pipeline is calculated on the percentage of desalinated water each client uses. He, however, denied that the rationing of the towns’ water supply is being used to force local authorities to pay their outstanding bills.
“Towns are currently being supplied with cheap underground water. NamWater extracts about ten million cubic metres from the Kuiseb River aquifer and the Omdel aquifer each year to supply towns in the Erongo region with water.”
Mutorwa said NamWater must recover its costs from the consumer for building infrastructure and that subsidising local authorities for its water supply, is not a priority for government.

JESSICA BOTES