Water infrastructure theft costs government millions: Schlettwein

The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform Calle Schlettwein said the ministry has lost significant amounts of money through the theft and vandalism of water infrastructure in the communities. Schlettwein during the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline project held at Ondangwa on Friday said the ministry lost about N.dollars 120 million in stolen water pumps and solar panels in the last few years. 'Worst of all, the communities who were served with clean reliable water lost that existential service,' he said. He added that all the drilling of boreholes, equipping and installing required infrastructure such as a power supply, water tanks and pumps, and some distribution lines were lost to the communities. Schlettwein said the situation is intolerable and called on the communities to look better after the infrastructure while urging traditional authorities, regional and local authorities to join hands in preventing these crimes. 'We must also cooperate to, if such a crime happened, bring the culprits to book,' he added. According to the minister, phase 1 of the Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime pipeline replacement project, covers the section from Ondangwa to Oshali and the project is fully funded by NamWater to the tune of N.dollars 91 million. 'The Ondangwa-Omutsegwonime bulk water supply scheme, also known as the South East (SE) scheme, has been a cornerstone in providing essential water resources to the Oshana and Oshikoto regions,' he said. He added that spanning approximately 110 kilometres, this scheme conveys potable water from Ondangwa, traversing through Omuthiya and culminating in the Omutsegwonime village. Moreover, Schlettwein indicated that the scheme does not only serve the urban centres but extends to various branch lines such as Onethindi-Onandjokwe, Onathinge-Onayena, Okatope-Okankolo, Okatope-Omuntele, and several bulk feeder lines of the Directorate of Rural Water Supply pipelines. In addition to the primary pump station at Ondangwa, Schlettwein said several boos ter pump stations located at Oshali, Okatope and Omuthiya ensure the effective distribution of water across this extensive network in the two regions. Source: The Namibia Press Agency