Six years of sewage issues
Residents of Okakarara’s Pamwe location are disgruntled about the town’s municipal services as they have been complaining about a sewage problem for six years.
ESTER KAMATI
OKAKARARA
Sewage floods the backyard of one of the houses in Okakarara’s Pamwe location, and sometimes it flows into surrounding yards too.
The smell is unbearable, says Veronika Amwele, one of the occupants of the affected house.
She says she is frustrated because the issue has been there since she moved to the area three years ago.
She says municipal workers sometimes inspect the situation but they do not provide an explanation of the problem or why it has not been fixed.
“The children cannot even play outside. And the smell is terrible. How can they expect us to live like this?” she says.
Another resident, 64-year-old war veteran Isaack Mbapha, says he is unhappy with the unhygienic conditions that service providers are exposing him to.
He says these conditions are breeding ground for diseases.
Mbapha has been complaining about the issue for years but to no avail.
The pensioner has resorted to not paying his municipal bills until the problem is solved.
“I will not pay until it is rectified. How can I pay for poor service?” Mbapha says.
Working on it
When approached for comment, the chairperson of the local council’s management committee, Golden Katjatako, said he was aware of the problem and promised it would finally be solved this year.
He explained that the machine for pumping out the sewage was broken and had to be replaced with a new one.
Then the council realised that the machine was not the problem but rather the presence of solid waste in she system which needs to be cleared manually from the pipes as it cannot be pumped out by the machine.
According to him, the council has been engaging companies who can provide this service.
An assessment was made last week and they expect to complete the process by Thursday this week. He said this process would cost roughly N$60 000.
“I don’t know what the problem was for the last six years but when we took up office in January, we started working on it,” he said.
He added that for a small town like Okakarara, which has about 6 000 residents, the municipal revenue is also small, but assured that the people of the town are a priority.
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OKAKARARA
Sewage floods the backyard of one of the houses in Okakarara’s Pamwe location, and sometimes it flows into surrounding yards too.
The smell is unbearable, says Veronika Amwele, one of the occupants of the affected house.
She says she is frustrated because the issue has been there since she moved to the area three years ago.
She says municipal workers sometimes inspect the situation but they do not provide an explanation of the problem or why it has not been fixed.
“The children cannot even play outside. And the smell is terrible. How can they expect us to live like this?” she says.
Another resident, 64-year-old war veteran Isaack Mbapha, says he is unhappy with the unhygienic conditions that service providers are exposing him to.
He says these conditions are breeding ground for diseases.
Mbapha has been complaining about the issue for years but to no avail.
The pensioner has resorted to not paying his municipal bills until the problem is solved.
“I will not pay until it is rectified. How can I pay for poor service?” Mbapha says.
Working on it
When approached for comment, the chairperson of the local council’s management committee, Golden Katjatako, said he was aware of the problem and promised it would finally be solved this year.
He explained that the machine for pumping out the sewage was broken and had to be replaced with a new one.
Then the council realised that the machine was not the problem but rather the presence of solid waste in she system which needs to be cleared manually from the pipes as it cannot be pumped out by the machine.
According to him, the council has been engaging companies who can provide this service.
An assessment was made last week and they expect to complete the process by Thursday this week. He said this process would cost roughly N$60 000.
“I don’t know what the problem was for the last six years but when we took up office in January, we started working on it,” he said.
He added that for a small town like Okakarara, which has about 6 000 residents, the municipal revenue is also small, but assured that the people of the town are a priority.
[email protected]
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