Overflowing dam brings serious consequences for communal farmers

COMMUNAL farmers living upstream of the Neckartal Dam located on the Fish River near Keetmanshoop say the heavy inflows following incessant rains over the past days have brought serious social and environmental consequences.

Cedric Thomas, a councillor of the /Hai-/Khaua Traditional Authority, under which most communal farmers resort, said farmers are now experiencing a difficult upheaval with their livelihoods.

He explained the flow of the tributary Kameel River has been altered by the dam, which is full to capacity and stretches back about 10 kilometres from the wall.

Because of this, he said the tributary’s flow now takes longer to recede, which normally has been about three days.

He said the flooded tributary had cut off some communal farmers from their livestock grazing areas.

The farmers mainly rely on small livestock farming for a livelihood.

“The flooded Kameel River is a barrier for the farmers reaching grazing areas,” he said, adding that some farmers have taken longer alternative routes to reach the livestock grazing areas.

The bursting Kameel River has flooded some homes of farmers living in low lying areas and submerged a cemetery, according to Thomas.

“The dam project was meant to improve the living standards of the farming communities in the area, but now it sacrificed their land for the benefit of others,” he added.

He said had government fulfilled promises to relocate farmers living close to the Fish River when the construction on the dam started in 2013, the affected farmers would not be finding themselves in this predicament.

He suggested those farming communities in low lying areas should be relocated,even temporarily.

The traditional councillor also bemoaned the government’s failure to speed up the implementation of phase two of the irrigation scheme that would create job opportunities to the locals.

“It is painful to see this water go to waste,” he fumed.

Agriculture executive director Percy Misika yesterday said budgetary constraints triggered by the ballooning cost of constructing the dam had delayed the implementation of phase two of the project.

“We are looking at a public-private partnership (PPP) model for phase two,” he remarked.

Misika said there was no way the government could fund phase two of the project alone because of the dam’s bloated construction cost.

The cost of the dam was estimated at N$2,4 billion at inception but had ballooned to N$5,7 billion at completion.

Misika referred to Leopoldt Niipare, the project manager of the Neckartal Dam.

Niipare could not be reached for comment on his cellphone.

Misika, however, welcomed the dam filling up to capacity.

“There was lot of skepticism that it would take between 10 and 20 years for the dam to fill, but God and nature proved doom sayers wrong,” he added.

He said the filling up of the dam within two years after its construction was already a boost as it would attract tourism to the region.

Meanwhile, Popular Democratic Movement parliamentarian Inna Hengari urged the government to start the second phase of the dam project to develop irrigation schemes and plantations.

Hengari said the Neckartal Dam presents an opportunity that cannot be missed as it provides farmers opportunities to venture into various projects including grape and fodder production.

“[This] is a glimmer of hope for all southerners and Namibians at large towards achieving food security, reducing poverty levels, and providing a livelihood for the growing rural population. This is a national task that we all must take on,” she said.

She said the government, in collaboration with the //Kharas Regional Council, must come up with ways to fund budding farmers to diversify the agricultural sector in the region.

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