Community members asked to allow for Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform (MAWLR) head of rural water supply in the Oshikoto Region, Stevenson Tuukondjele is urging communities to pave the way for the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline replacement project. Tuukondjele said in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday that the community should accommodate the replacement of the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline and not delay the process that is scheduled to be completed in 12 months only. He urged the communities of the Oshikoto and Oshana regions to cooperate with the companies that are replacing the pipeline and smoothen the process. 'Our community needs to understand that this is not a political exercise, it is the government effort to improve water supply to its communities,' said Tuukondjele. He pointed out that the community will be compensated for the worth of their loss, so they should not be concerned about the loss. 'It all depends on us to make this project a success and I strongly call all the community members to cooperate wit h the companies that are awarded this project,' Tuukondjele said. The replacement will be completed by Homefin Properties CC, a Namibian company, and China Jiangxi International, which is a Chinese company. The pipeline will cover a distance of 110 kilometres from Ondangwa traversing through Omuthiya and culminating in the Omutsegwonime village. NamWater Chief Executive Officer, Abraham Nehemia stated during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime project at Ondangwa on Friday that the current infrastructure of the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline is struggling to meet the escalating demand and is plagued by frequent pipe bursts and supply interruptions. 'NamWater wants to improve its service delivery of water supply to the Oshana and Oshikoto regions and has prioritised the development of critical water supply infrastructure in the country,' said Nehemia. Source: The Namibia Press Agency