NAMPOWER will on Monday disconnect power supply to the Kombat settlement to recover N$29 million owed to it.
Congo Namibian Trading, through a power supply agreement with NamPower is the power supplier to the settlement east of Otavi.
In a statement, NamPower said the decision to suspend power supply is due to debt that Congo Namibia Trading has accumulated since July 2018.
On Thursday, the power utility said the disconnection of power would be affected today at midnight.
Kombat settlement is not administered through the Ministry of Urbanisation and Rural Development, it belongs to businessman Knowledge Katti. He bought the settlement for N$50 million in 2015, from Manila Investments, in which his company Havana Investments and Kombat Copper as well as Epangelo Mining was a shareholder.
Charles David who administers the Kombat properties on behalf of Katti said there is little they can do to keep the lights on because the residents stopped paying for services at the village.
“It is now for the government to come in because we have been offering sewage and water services for the past seven years.
“People have not been paying for anything for the past three years. Not for rent, not even for water,” he said.
He added that the situation escalated when more people flocked to the village.
The majority of the people at the settlement are mostly students studying at the Welwitchia Health Training Centre.
According to David, these students are renting rooms from residents and the money is not shared with the town administrators.
The disconnection of electricity will not impact the mine, which is under the ownership of Trigon Metals.
The mine’s general manager Fanie Muller said this is because the two are not on the same supply point.
“The mine has a separate power supply agreement with Cenored in place and would therefore not be affected by the proposed power cut,” he said.
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