Ariamsvlei settlement in water crisis

A WATER crisis has hit the Ariamsvlei settlement in the //Karas region since December, leaving residents in despair.

Residents of the settlement’s Vergenoeg location are frustrated and angry that their taps have run dry, and called on the relevant authorities to intervene.

A resident who had tipped off The Namibian about the water crisis at the settlement said the Vergenoeg location’s taps have not been flowing since 20 December 2018.

“We have no water to flush our toilets and cook food; and the water crisis poses a health risk,” a resident fumed. The local settlement officials, residents said, at first blamed a broken water pump for the water shortage, but later changed their tune by saying water had not been pumped to the location because a NamWater official stationed at its local pump station was on leave since early December.

The settlement’s office staffers last Friday were supplying water from a 500-litre water container to about 600 residents.

Complaining that the water supplied from a water tanker to residents was not enough to cater for all, a resident remarked that “the officer in charge of the settlement office and his staff do not care about concerns of the community, who at least deserve the right to water”.

Dennis Coetzee, regional constituency councillor for Karasburg East, under which Ariamsvlei settlement resorts, yesterday said he was not aware of the water crisis at the settlement.

“It is news to me,” he said when approached for comment.

“To date, nobody has brought the matter to my attention,” he added. Coetzee said he was only aware that some residents received water during certain hours because of low water pressure.

“I have tabled this problem in council, and we are working to find a solution,” he noted.

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