NC report reveals appalling living conditions

CLOSE to 70 households at the southern village of Gruenau receive water for only one hour a day, says a report of one of the Standing Committees of the National Council.

The report of the Standing Committee on Habitat on its visit to the Karas, Kunene, Omusati and Oshana regions was adopted by the National Council last week. The report says people at Gruenau only have water from 08h00 to 09h00 every day.The committee also found a critical shortage of decent housing in the Karas Region.Many people are living in shacks, using the veld as a toilet, it says.Theo Diergaardt, the Swapo regional councillor for Rehoboth West-Urban in the Hardap Region, was upset about these findings.Diergaardt said water is life and its scarcity is hampering development at Gruenau.In some of the regions visited, the committee found shortcomings in the implementation of the Build Together project, where beneficiaries were using the loans for other purposes instead of building houses.Diergaardt called on the Regional Council and local authorities not to pay out the loans straight to beneficiaries.”They must try to work something out,” he said.Diergaardt said the report’s findings must be included in development plans.”These are the issues that must be discussed in our constituency development committees, regional meetings.This report must be sent to the different regional councils, town councils and village councils in the four regions,” he said.The committee visited the Kunene, Omusati and Oshana regions in February this year while the Karas Region was visited in July 2006.The report says people at Gruenau only have water from 08h00 to 09h00 every day.The committee also found a critical shortage of decent housing in the Karas Region.Many people are living in shacks, using the veld as a toilet, it says.Theo Diergaardt, the Swapo regional councillor for Rehoboth West-Urban in the Hardap Region, was upset about these findings.Diergaardt said water is life and its scarcity is hampering development at Gruenau.In some of the regions visited, the committee found shortcomings in the implementation of the Build Together project, where beneficiaries were using the loans for other purposes instead of building houses.Diergaardt called on the Regional Council and local authorities not to pay out the loans straight to beneficiaries.”They must try to work something out,” he said.Diergaardt said the report’s findings must be included in development plans.”These are the issues that must be discussed in our constituency development committees, regional meetings.This report must be sent to the different regional councils, town councils and village councils in the four regions,” he said.The committee visited the Kunene, Omusati and Oshana regions in February this year while the Karas Region was visited in July 2006.