Grant immediate borehole access, Nghitila tells officials

Communities should not be barred from using newly installed boreholes that have not yet been officially inaugurated, agriculture and water ministry executive director Teofilus Nghitila has warned.

Nghitila said he was shocked last year to find that ministry officials had prevented communities in the Kavango West region from using boreholes that had already been drilled, installed and made ready for use.

“If the facility is ready for use, let us hand it over to the community so that the community can start utilising such a facility,” he said.

He made the remarks on Tuesday while handing over new sanitation facilities to beneficiaries in Kavango West built through the Namibia Water Sector Support Programme.

The N$3.3 billion programme is funded through an African Development Bank loan of about N$1.9 billion, a N$50.4 million grant from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative Trust Fund and a N$1.3 billion contribution from the Namibian government.

The programme aims to improve access to water and sanitation services, strengthen sustainable water security and build institutional capacity within the water sector.

“When I joined the ministry a year ago, this programme was very slow. Most sites have been abandoned, and the money is there,” Nghitila said.

In response, he restructured the team responsible for the programme and brought in new personnel to accelerate implementation, particularly on the sanitation component.

Nghitila said the changes led to several facilities being completed, which he described as a sign that the programme was gaining momentum.

He urged contractors with outstanding projects to complete their work and hand them over to communities, saying the ministry wants infrastructure to translate into actual services for beneficiaries.

Sanitation rights

Nghitila linked the push for functional sanitation infrastructure to Namibia’s target of reducing open defecation by 2030, saying inadequate sanitation exposes communities to diseases and can increase pressure on health facilities, including through the risk of outbreaks such as cholera.

He urged beneficiaries to take ownership of the constructed facilities by using, maintaining and protecting them.

“It is yours to use. It is yours to take care of it. It is yours to maintain,” he said.

Nghitila further called for water and sanitation requirements to be incorporated into the planning of public infrastructure, particularly schools.

“There shouldn't be a school being constructed without an ablution block. There should be no school being constructed without water provision,” he said.

He said schools without piped water could approach the ministry for assistance.

Nghitila said the ministry would continue mobilising resources for sanitation infrastructure and called for stronger cooperation between the ministry, regional councils and health authorities to ensure completed facilities are handed over and put into use.

Consult us

Kapako constituency councillor Augustinus Kupembona welcomed the investment but cautioned that sanitation should not be addressed in isolation from other healthcare needs.

He said clinics require consultation and screening rooms, staff accommodation, water, sanitation, electricity, equipment and other supporting infrastructure, arguing that addressing one component while leaving others unattended could limit the facility’s overall capacity.

Kupembona called for stronger consultation during the planning stage, involving government institutions, implementation partners, regional authorities, constituency offices, traditional authorities, healthcare workers and communities.

He said people using and working in the facilities understand practical challenges and should help shape decisions on which infrastructure is most urgently needed.