On Walvis Water Crisis An Open Letter to Walvis Mayor And Councillors

Dear Mayor and Councillors
WITH reference to the major water supply crisis which Walvis Bay is currently experiencing, I would like to vent my frustration and anger at our Municipality, who as suppliers of water to Walvis Bay residents is the authority we must address at this time of great distress and inconvenience.

It is clear to me that the bulk water supplier to the Municipality, NamWater, bears major responsibility for the current state of affairs, but as residents of this town we have no direct redress to them. I am of the opinion that the Walvis Bay Municipal Council has not applied its mind diligently and effectively to the matter of annually recurring water shortages at this time of the year and has failed to provide the residents with a true picture of the complete situation concerning water supply to Walvis Bay. Now we hear that the Governor of the Erongo Region has to report to the President on the situation; one wonders why the Municipal Council has not long ago seen the responsible Line Minister from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, to complain about NamWater’s inability to effectively eradicate the annual water problems. If needs be, the Council should have acted pro-actively in requesting to see the President in this matter in order to report to him directly about the grave dereliction of duty by NamWater and ask him to apply the necessary pressure to get the deficiencies addressed. It is a very incriminating reflection of total incompetence of our Council that the Regional Governor now has to be summoned to report on an issue which falls squarely into the ambit of our Council’s responsibility. I also take issue with the poor communications by Council on the water crisis. In the press release last week, it was stated that the water supply to the reservoirs had been curtailed by the flood damage caused by the Kuiseb River. The fact is that, already before the river came down in flood, the reservoirs were at a dangerously low level, due to derelict water supply infrastructure along the Kuiseb, caused by years of neglect, incompetence, dereliction of duty and irresponsibility by NamWater. This fact was very well known to the Municipality and its Councillors, who failed to act in time and decisively when no adequate remedies and responses were forthcoming from NamWater. If all available reservoirs had been filled timeously for the rainy season and anticipated flooding of the Kuiseb River, the impact of the flood damage would not have been so sudden and dramatic as we are experiencing now. Last week’s press release puts the blame on the flooding river, which is only half the truth! We had experienced prolonged periods of low water pressure due to low reservoir levels for weeks before the river came down, but Council chose not to inform us fully at that time, nor to implement limited water restrictions in good time.Another issue concerning communications is that no broad-based and up-to-date information is being disseminated to the affected population. Publishing information on a website and sending SMS messages is a very poor substitute to the dissemination of official flyers and information posters to the broader population. The majority of residents have no access to the Internet and SMS messages are dangerous, since no one can assess if it is a hoax, rumour or real. In the absence of credible and current information, rumours spread easily and can confuse the situation even more.The anger of the Walvis Bay residents over the water crisis is entirely justified. Industry and business have been hard hit in a time of economic difficulty. All this could easily have been avoided if Council, NamWater and Government had acted responsibly, decisively and in good time. Our patience with feeble excuses is now totally exhausted and it is time the responsible elements in this saga are taken to task and replaced with competent technocrats and administrators, who without fear or favour, and without having to bow to the political pecking order, act in good faith and in the sole interest of all Walvis Bay residents.John HatutaleOndangwa