Aminuis communities receive VIP toilets

THE Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF) in the Omaheke region on Friday officially handed over 90 Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrines to grassroots communities in the region.

The toilets, which are an improved version of the more common pit latrines, were handed over to three villages in the Aminuis constituency namely Jakkals Draai, which received 27, Aroams (43) and Orevia (20).

The toilets were constructed by the Windhoek-based Rambambi Construction Company, under tender from the MAWF.

They are similar in design and technology to the ‘Otji Toilet’, which is considered especially suitable for a region with intense solar radiation and low precipitation.

Handing over the toilets’ keys to village representatives on Friday at Aroams village, a development planner in the MAWF, Stanley Ngavee, said the toilets were constructed to help improve the sanitation and health of those residing in these communities.

The toilets are also meant to ease the burden on villagers, many of them pensioners, who are forced to walk long distances to bushes to relieve themselves.

“Government has committed itself to improving the sanitation and health of its people, and avoid the dangers associated with people going into the bushes whenever nature calls,” he said.

Ngavee said a toilet is an important tool in closing the gap between the rich and poor, as it is needed by everybody – rich or poor.

Speaking on behalf of the recipients, Ukarapo Tjirombora, a traditional councillor at Orevia village, said the toilets will go a long way in improving the living conditions of villagers.

“We wholeheartedly thank the government for providing this much-needed service to us. We will do our part to take care of these facilities and maintain them where possible, so as to have them for a long period to come,” he said.

Although a number of toilets were also constructed in other parts of the Omaheke region, these are the first to be handed over to the respective communities, and the only ones constructed in the Aminuis constituency.

The construction was overseen by Archer Tjozongoro, an agricultural extension officer based at the MAWF offices at Gobabis.

The toilets were constructed at a cost of N$3,3 million. – Nampa

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