Amaupa residents without clean water for 33 years
Water truck stops coming
Demonstrators carried posters reading "we are tired of taking medication with dirty water and salt water".
Residents from Amaupa village in the Omusati Region’s Tsandi constituency held a peaceful demonstration on Monday to protest the lack of clean water, electricity, clinic and network tower they’ve had to endure for 33 years.
Demonstrators carried posters reading "we are tired of taking medication with dirty water and salt water".
According to the group’s spokesperson Petrus Shiweva, the residents do not have access to clean water and used to receive water from a truck which would come twice a month. It has, however, been a year since the truck brought them water.
"The truck that used to provide water to the area has since stopped, and residents have been without clean water for a year now," he said.
Shiweva added that every time the truck would bring water, each household was expected to have no more than two 20-litre containers to fetch water with.
“These containers are not enough to cater for the needs of everyone, especially in many households where there more than 10 people,” he said.
He added that many of the households are forced to use dirty water from wells because the two containers cannot sustain them for a whole month.
The residents, who handed over a petition to the regional governor’s office, claimed that government has forgotten about them as they do not have access to the most basic services that are available in other villages.
Elephant destruction
In the petition seen by this publication, the residents further lamented the destruction of their mahangu fields by elephants in the area.
Shiweva said the elephants destroy their fields most families rely on for food, while government compensates very little for the damages caused.
"We are not happy with the compensation from the environment ministry when our fields are destroyed," the petition read.
The residents are demanding that the environment ministry put up an office in the village to respond to the human-wildlife conflict, and that it increase the compensation for damage caused.
They also demanded that the agriculture ministry install pipelines in order for them to have access to clean water, and for the ministry to drill boreholes to cater to their livestock.
In the pipeline
In an interview with Nambian Sun, Omusati regional governor Erginus Endjala said the issue of water accessibility in western parts of the region will be soon be addressed.
“Currently, the agriculture ministry is running a project called the ‘Ruacana south pipeline’, which intends to cover the Tsandi constituency,” he said.
He added that the environment ministry is also reviewing policies on how it can better compensate residents when wild animals have caused damage to property.
Demonstrators carried posters reading "we are tired of taking medication with dirty water and salt water".
According to the group’s spokesperson Petrus Shiweva, the residents do not have access to clean water and used to receive water from a truck which would come twice a month. It has, however, been a year since the truck brought them water.
"The truck that used to provide water to the area has since stopped, and residents have been without clean water for a year now," he said.
Shiweva added that every time the truck would bring water, each household was expected to have no more than two 20-litre containers to fetch water with.
“These containers are not enough to cater for the needs of everyone, especially in many households where there more than 10 people,” he said.
He added that many of the households are forced to use dirty water from wells because the two containers cannot sustain them for a whole month.
The residents, who handed over a petition to the regional governor’s office, claimed that government has forgotten about them as they do not have access to the most basic services that are available in other villages.
Elephant destruction
In the petition seen by this publication, the residents further lamented the destruction of their mahangu fields by elephants in the area.
Shiweva said the elephants destroy their fields most families rely on for food, while government compensates very little for the damages caused.
"We are not happy with the compensation from the environment ministry when our fields are destroyed," the petition read.
The residents are demanding that the environment ministry put up an office in the village to respond to the human-wildlife conflict, and that it increase the compensation for damage caused.
They also demanded that the agriculture ministry install pipelines in order for them to have access to clean water, and for the ministry to drill boreholes to cater to their livestock.
In the pipeline
In an interview with Nambian Sun, Omusati regional governor Erginus Endjala said the issue of water accessibility in western parts of the region will be soon be addressed.
“Currently, the agriculture ministry is running a project called the ‘Ruacana south pipeline’, which intends to cover the Tsandi constituency,” he said.
He added that the environment ministry is also reviewing policies on how it can better compensate residents when wild animals have caused damage to property.
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