Oshakati electrifies 770 households

About 770 erven at Oshakati’s Onawa extensions seven and eight will be electrified, bringing an end to dark nights for the town’s residents in these areas. The project will cost an estimated N$11.5 million.Urban and rural development minister Erastus Uutoni, who officiated the groundbreaking of the electrification project, said it is a clear sign that Namibia is progressing towards comprehensive need-based infrastructure development in Oshakati and the country at large.Uutoni applauded Oshakati Premier Electric (OPE) for meeting the expectations of government goals in supplying electricity to communities.Project progressThe minister said the journey to electrify these areas began in 2016, when OPE conducted research aimed at identifying households in the informal areas that had access to the grid but were not yet connected.A total of 1 200 households were identified.In conjunction with consultants, OPE then embarked on another research project in 2019 to identify residents within the boundaries of Oshakati who are not part of informal or formal areas and do not have access to electricity.Uutoni said five villages with no access to electricity were identified, namely, Oshandumbala, Othingo, Onendongo, Emono and Onawa.New partnershipBased on this study, OPE approached the Oshakati town council with a partnership proposal aimed at three main deliverables."For OPE to connect the informal households as identified by the research; to be given permission to electrify the rural areas that fall within the Oshakati town borders; and for OTC to allow OPE to retain part of its return on investments (dividends) in order to assist the project financing."The partnership has enabled service connections for over 2 145 households in informal areas of Oshakati, the minister said. "The successful and timely completion of this electrification project will bring smiles to the faces of many residents of Oshakati. The most important impact will be on the lives of learners and students who have otherwise depended on poor light to study and do their schoolwork," Uutoni said.Fire station inaugurated Shortly after the groundbreaking ceremony, the Oshakati town council officially inaugurated its state-of-the-art fire station at Ehenye, which was constructed at a cost of N$8.8 million.Phase 1 of the project includes a call centre, firefighters&#039; dormitories, a fitting room and parking areas for firefighting equipment.Oshakati mayor Leonard Hango said phase 2 will cost an estimated N$6.7 million.Hango said the new structure replaces the old one, which was made of corrugated iron sheets. He said the town is growing, and the council saw the need to establish a fully-equipped fire station.On the same occasion, Uutoni also inaugurated the Oshakati landfill site, which was constructed at a cost of N$6.5 million. - tuyeimo@namibiansun.com

Oshakati electrifies 770 households

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-04

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Oshakati electrifies 770 households

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Namibian Sun 2025-11-04

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