Rehoboth council warns residents against ‘free water’

• RHONIE ||GAROEBTHE Rehoboth Town Council chief executive officer has warned residents against using water from tanks put up in informal settlements by the Rehoboth Independent Town Management Association (Ritma).

The non-political group advocating the rights of residents was established last November. It has set up tanks in the Kuvukiland, Volstruisvlakte and Blikkiesdorp informal settlements to help residents without taps have access to water.

Council CEO Simeon Kanime said during a community meeting on Sunday Ritma is using the tanks to “score cheap political points.”

“These people who want to score cheap political points through this exercise should use the tokens at the standpipes so people can get water with their containers from the taps. All I can say is that we will not allow this exercise and the town council will never certify these tanks to be used to store water,” he said.

The CEO further said the tanks might carry health risks and the town council will not be held liable if people get sick after consuming water from the tanks.

“This exercise is illegal and risky as these water tanks have not been certified by the council health department for the storage of water,” Kanime said. He said if someone wants to assist residents, they should do so by using a token bought at the council to get water from the standpipes put up strategically in the informal settlements.

Approached for comment on Tuesday, Ritma chairperson Rudi van Wyk said they are assisting people to access clean drinking water, something which he said the council is “failing to do”.

“I have a token bought from council which I use to fill these tanks and provide the water to the masses, something they have failed to do,” Van Wyk said, adding that the council has no right to tell them to stop what they are doing and that the water in the tanks is the same water all residents in the town consume.

Van Wyk said Ritma’s establishment was necessitated by the alleged failure of the council to provide basic services such as clean drinking water, rehabilitation of dilapidated sewerage infrastructure and poor roads.

Last week the town council wrote to Van Wyk requesting him to remove the structures he positioned the tanks on, saying he is contravening the Local Authorities Act, Act 23 of 1992.

The letter, also copied to the government attorney, said Van Wyk is not an authorised distributor of water within Rehoboth and he should remove the structures and tanks.

– Nampa

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