Rain renews hope, causes conflict

The rain that fell in the northern regions the past few days has brought relief to mahangu farmers and has given renewed hope to livestock breeders, but has also caused conflict between neighbours in the Uupundi informal settlement of Oshakati. Officials of the Oshakati Town Council and the police had to struggle for hours to solve a problem allegedly caused by a resident who blocked a natural drainage channel, causing her neighbours’ houses to be flooded. Laimi Nangutuuala said she has been a resident of Uupindi location since the 1980s and is not happy with the fact that during the rainy season it appears as if a river runs through her yard. “I have been suffering for years because of the mass of rainwater passing through my premises, causing damage to my property and making life generally unbearable,” she said. She therefore decided to block the drainage channel and when the rain fell last week, neighbouring houses and businesses were instantly flooded. The town council was notified and municipal workers’ investigation concluded that the problem was caused by a blocked natural watercourse. However, Nangutuuala confronted the workers who tried to unblock the drainage, chasing them away after accusing them of trying to damage her property. She even picked up a stone and threatened to harm anyone trying to remove the sand, corrugated-iron sheets and other objects she used to block the water. “I am ready to go to jail if that is what it takes,” she said while holding a stone. The CEO of the Oshakati Town Council, Werner Iita, arrived at the scene to try to defuse the situation, but even this attempt did not produce the required results. The police were summoned to protect municipal workers as they unblocked the water channel. Uupindi residents, who flocked to the site to watch the drama unfold, expressed divergent view points. Some accused the town council of not being proactive, reacting only when there is a problem. “The whole location is under water as we speak and the town council is to blame for that. They promised several years ago to relocate us but nothing was done,” one resident said. Selma Amukushu, who is Nangutuuala’s relative and neighbour, and whose house was one of those affected, said rainwater used to flow freely until Nangutuuala blocked the natural drainage system. “She was not supposed to do that,” she said. As soon as the water course was unblocked, the water started flowing out of Amukushu’s erf through Nangutula’s yard to the nearby oshana. OSHAKATI PLACIDO HILUKILWA