Editorial: Answers And Solutions Are Necessary

WE need to find answers and solutions in order to prevent a recurrence of the Mariental floods in the future.

Sometimes there is little one can do to prevent natural disasters, but where man-made elements are involved, we do need to look at how crises could have been averted. One of these ways is, of course, an early-warning system.Only NamWater had information at its disposal on how full the Hardap Dam was, and when the appropriate time would be to open the sluice gates.While NamWater has said it was not to blame, others suggest that indeed there were ways in which the release of water from the dam should have been planned to avoid the huge flooding that occurred when the sluice gates were opened; and also had systems in place to warn about high inflows from the catchment areas.Perhaps NamWater was less than far-sighted in this case.But we still need to look at ways and means of avoiding this in future.NamWater blamed reeds blocking the flow of water; plantations in the river; and poor town planning by the Council among others, which they claim should not have allowed building in low-lying areas.Some of these may be legitimate problems.But it is also true to say that other measures can be put in place – for example, to widen the river and/or build canals to divert the flow of water when released from the Hardap Dam.Another possibility is an overflow weir.The monitoring system could be ineffective or the information provided to the parastatal was not acted on properly or utilised well in order to release excess water at an earlier stage to prevent flooding.NamWater does say that it agreed, in consultation with the Town Council of Mariental, to keep the dam level at 80 per cent capacity, This may work well enough in normal rainfall times, but the alert should have been out at a far earlier stage to prevent the subsequent loss of life and property.It does appear as if the inflow of the Dabid and Aub rivers into the already released water in the Fish River was underestimated.Given that this situation of dams at capacity is at present a countrywide phenomenon, hopefully the same mistakes will not be allowed to happen again.Namibia has in recent months, like most of the rest of the world in the wake of the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina disasters, been looking at of ‘early warning’ as a means to minimise the damage and loss of life when such disasters strike.It does not appear as if we have benefited much from this debate to date.We have to look further, even, than the minimising or prevention of disasters.Global warming is a fact and climates, including in our own country, do appear to be changing.We have to be aware of this fact and take timely action to prevent catastrophe.Instead of feeling joy and elation at the fact that Namibia, finally, has had an abundant rainy season, bringing mainly good news to all, it is disasters like these that will make people curse rather than celebrate the rain.Containment and prevention are vital and it is a sad fact that this tragedy could probably have been prevented if officials had been slightly more far-sighted.But it has happened, and we are now left to deal with the consequences.One of which is that it can, and most likely will, happen again in future and we must ensure that townspeople and their properties are protected as much as possible by an efficient and effective system.So action must be taken now to avert a recurrence, and this is what NamWater, the Mariental Town Council and all stakeholders should be talking about, rather than indulging in the ‘blame game’.One of these ways is, of course, an early-warning system.Only NamWater had information at its disposal on how full the Hardap Dam was, and when the appropriate time would be to open the sluice gates.While NamWater has said it was not to blame, others suggest that indeed there were ways in which the release of water from the dam should have been planned to avoid the huge flooding that occurred when the sluice gates were opened; and also had systems in place to warn about high inflows from the catchment areas.Perhaps NamWater was less than far-sighted in this case.But we still need to look at ways and means of avoiding this in future.NamWater blamed reeds blocking the flow of water; plantations in the river; and poor town planning by the Council among others, which they claim should not have allowed building in low-lying areas.Some of these may be legitimate problems.But it is also true to say that other measures can be put in place – for example, to widen the river and/or build canals to divert the flow of water when released from the Hardap Dam.Another possibility is an overflow weir.The monitoring system could be ineffective or the information provided to the parastatal was not acted on properly or utilised well in order to release excess water at an earlier stage to prevent flooding.NamWater does say that it agreed, in consultation with the Town Council of Mariental, to keep the dam level at 80 per cent capacity, This may work well enough in normal rainfall times, but the alert should have been out at a far earlier stage to prevent the subsequent loss of life and property.It does appear as if the inflow of the Dabid and Aub rivers into the already released water in the Fish River was underestimated.Given that this situation of dams at capacity is at present a countrywide phenomenon, hopefully the same mistakes will not be allowed to happen again.Namibia has in recent months, like most of the rest of the world in the wake of the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina disasters, been looking at of ‘early warning’ as a means to minimise the damage and loss of life when such disasters strike.It does not appear as if we have benefited much from this debate to date.We have to look further, even, than the minimising or prevention of disasters.Global warming is a fact and climates, including in our own country, do appear to be changing.We have to be aware of this fact and take timely action to prevent catastrophe.Instead of feeling joy and elation at the fact that Namibia, finally, has had an abundant rainy season, bringing mainly good news to all, it is disasters like these that will make people curse rather than celebrate the rain.Containment and prevention are vital and it is a sad fact that this tragedy could probably have been prevented if officials had been slightly more far-sighted.But it has happened, and we are now left to deal with the consequences.One of which is that it can, and most likely will, happen again in future and we must ensure that townspeople and their properties are protected as much as possible by an efficient and effective system.So action must be taken now to avert a recurrence, and this is what NamWater, the Mariental Town Council and all stakeholders should be talking about, rather than indulging in the ‘blame game’.