Water woes cripple Rundu

The streets and pavements of Rundu have been transformed into unsightly and foul-smelling dumpsites because the town council has had to cut back on essential services while it is paying back its crippling N$60 million debt to NamWater.

Residents say refuse removal has all but ground to a halt, while heaps of rubbish are piling up along the streets, in riverbeds and in front of government offices, business premises and homes.

Lodge owners claim that tour operators have decided to bypass Rundu because of the increasing stench at the town, robbing the town of valuable tourism income.

The acting CEO of the town council, Sikongo Haihambo, acknowledges that the rubbish is “an eyesore”, and blames the situation on the town's financial position.

The town is currently paying about N$4 million per month to NamWater, 30% of which is to service its water debt and 70% for new water consumption.

Haihambo says the council has made the town's continued water provision its priority, and other essential services have had to be downscaled because there is simply not enough money for much else.

“We had to ask ourselves, how much money can we use for other services and how much money can we take for water; water is our first priority,” Haihambo says.

He acknowledges that residents are still paying for refuse removal, but this money has to be used to pay the water bill. The town council has two trucks collecting refuse piled up along the streets, but Haimhambo says although the trucks are running non-stop this is not sufficient.

“We cannot do [refuse removal] adequately at the moment,” Haihambo admits.

“The Rundu town council is down at the moment; we should not repeat mistakes.”

Rundu's water woes started about ten years ago because of sluggish payments of its NamWater bill, which Haihambo ascribes to insufficient planning and implementation.

However, he says the council's services are also stretched to the limit because of rapid population growth.

Rundu has a population growth rate of 5.4%, which is higher than the national average growth rate of 4.2% and only second only to Windhoek.

It population has increased from 63 000 in 2011 to 85 700 in 2017 and by the end of this year it is projected to reach 90 000.

“Service provision does not match up. Maybe we could have planned better, cried for more resources, or generated more money,” says Haihambo, who took over as acting CEO on 1 September.

Only 14 400 residents have municipal accounts, and 28% of those are defaulting on their payments. The rest of the residents live in shacks in informal settlements and do not pay municipal rates and tariffs.

Road maintenance has also fallen by the wayside and even the main thoroughfares have fallen into disrepair, with gaping potholes growing bigger by the day.



Things 'on the up'

Haihambo says despite this bleak picture, things are “on the up” at the council and staff morale has improved since they were paid in September and October.

He says the council is considering ways to make do without money, for example by asking volunteers to help with clean-ups and temporary road repairs.

The local business community will be asked to sponsor skips and provide trucks to remove refuse.

“We have to do whatever we can do and we have started to do whatever we can do,” Haihambo says.

CATHERINE SASMAN