Residents of Ohandjombali village in the Ohangwena region have been left without access to running water since June, forcing them to buy expensive supplies.
The situation is a challenge every year around June, resident Hilaria Aukongo says, forcing villagers to buy water at Eenhana – about 20km from the village in the Omundaungilo constituency.
They sometimes drink from wells, but the wells also dry up, she says.
Aukongo says this leaves residents with no other option but to buy water at a cost many cannot afford.
“We spend N$50 on a trip there and back to the village. Sometimes we even have to carry three or four 20-litre containers to fetch enough water for the week,” she says.
She says children often go to school without bathing and with no lunchbox because of the water challenge.
“We have to spare the little water we have,” Aukongo says.
A 20-litre container of water costs N$2, sometimes N$3.
“We only carry a few containers, because we don’t have cars to transport them in. Our children and elders go to bed hungry,” she says.
Another resident, Simeon Shihepo, says households pay N$5 a week for a truck to bring the village water.
One truck of water costs N$300.
He says this is not enough to sustain one family for a week.
“It happens every year. We have forgotten how to bath properly or even wash our blankets,” Shihepo says.
When their water runs out, he says they use water from wells, which also finishes quickly as animals drink from them too.
Every drop counts, he says.
“We make sure to wash all our blankets, clothes and everything before June each year, because you know you will never get the chance.”
Village headman Jacob Shetuhanga has confirmed the crisis.
He says the village has reported the matter to constituency councillor Fransina Kashikola in July, but the situation has still not been attended to.
He calls on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Land Reform to provide the village with boreholes, saying residents sometimes go to bed hungry due to a lack of water for cooking.
“Any intervention will be appreciated. We are thirsty,” the headman says.
Kashikola has confirmed the water shortage, saying residents of Ohambombali village have raised the matter with her.
She says she informed the region’s rural water supply division of the situation last week and is still waiting for officials to attend to the matter.
“I spoke to the rural water supply so they can bring them water with trucks, and they said they would. I know they will,” she told The Namibian yesterday.
Kashikola said the village has a water pipeline, but it has not been supplying water due to low water pressure.
She said no other village in her constituency has reported similar water issues.
Residents currently pay N$20 per month per household for a water truck to deliver a container of water to the village, the councillor said.
She said the money is used to cover the truck’s fuel costs.
The agriculture ministry is yet to respond to questions on the matter.
