Tumweneni residents spend hundreds on purified water

Residents from Tumweneni in Rundu are forced to fork out hundreds of dollars on transport to get water to their homes - be it purified or not.Those living in the informal settlement on the outskirts of the riverside town have no access to water, and have since been subjected to transporters who charge hefty fees for a trip to either the NamWater office or the Kavango River.Some residents buy 25 litres of contaminated river water for N$5.According to community leader Alexander Muyambango, the water situation at Tumweneni is critical as those without money to pay for transport are forced to find water by other means.He said while buying water from NamWater is affordable, the issue at hand is the cost of transport.A number of residents have bought water tanks, but now that the NamWater tanker truck is reportedly out of the region, they are forced to rely on private vehicles to get their tanks filled with water.Exorbitant costsAccording to Muyambango, at NamWater, 2 500 litres of purified water costs N$34, but to transport that water to Tumweneni can cost residents N$450.Those with 5 000 litre tanks - which cost N$65 to fill at the water utility - have to fork out N$750 on transport.For 10 000 litre tanks, N$127 pays for the water, but the transport costs a whopping N$1 100.“So, you see, the water is not expensive but the transport cost is killing us. Imagine how much money people would be saving if we had a water pipeline or the NamWater truck was around like before.“We have children and family members to take care of, but all our income is directed to water because water is life and you cannot comprise on that,” he said.In June, Canadian company ReconAfrica, which is currently exploring the Kavango regions for oil and gas, assisted the Tumweneni community with a truck to transport water from NamWater. That assistance has, however, come to an end.The informal settlement was established in 2018 after the Rundu town council failed to deal with a group of about 100 people who occupied land on the outskirts of the town. Today, over 5 000 call the area home.Between a rock and a hard placeIn 2019, the town council managed to get a court order to evict the squatters; however, that failed after the community resisted.The issue is currently a bone of contention, with the local authority caught between a rock and a hard place – do they revoke the eviction order and offer services to the people, or stick to depriving the community of services because they don’t want to promote anarchy?When contacted for comment yesterday, Rundu mayor Gabriel Kanyanga said the local authority is seized with the matter.The issue was part of a councillors’ meeting that took place on Tuesday, however, a decision has yet to be taken.Kanyanga said they have since referred the matter to the management committee, where a resolution will be taken in the coming weeks.kenya@namibiansun.com

Tumweneni residents spend hundreds on purified water

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Namibian Sun 2022-08-18

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Tumweneni residents spend hundreds on purified water

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Namibian Sun 2022-08-18

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