Resident Charles Kooper says households at Rehoboth have no refuse bins and residents are getting rid of rubbish at undesignated places.
He says 95% of the town”;s road infrastructure is not tarred and the town council has access to only one grader and driver for the upkeep of roads.
“You cannot even bury your loved ones in dignity. The condition of the roads is terrible. The vehicle carrying the dead shakes so much, you feel so bad for your relative being taken to be buried.
“We should not be a town, we should be a settlement as service delivery is pathetic in this place,” Kooper says.
Kooper says houses selling drugs, and bars and shebeens outnumber recreational facilities.
He says the RehoSpa community facility has been closed for almost 10 years, while local community halls and sport stadiums are in a deplorable condition. Councillors are not looking after the interests of the residents at the town, but are only there for their own political agenda, he says.
“We are calling on the minister of urban and rural development to investigate the living conditions of Rehoboth residents, compared to the service delivery the town council is tasked with,” Kooper says.
Residents also suffer a lack of jobs as the town council reportedly awards tenders to outsiders for small and medium enterprises.
Leon Joodt, another resident, says young people at the town are abusing alcohol and drugs because the council is not prioritising local economic development and job creation.
He says residents have agreed to set up committees according to their residential areas to represent them and their interests at the town council.
“I”;m a pensioner, and since I went to school 48 years ago, there have been flooding, an inadequate sewerage system, and refuse removal issues. “I don”;t understand why the council can”;t buy two refuse removal trucks and upgrade the sewerage system. It”;s pathetic,” Joodt says. “The reason why Rehoboth is a hotspot for drugs is because the council is not attending to the interests of the people,” he says.
The Rehoboth Town Council has recently seen a strike over salary increments, which has left residents without electricity for seven days and without water for five days.
Rehoboth mayor Enrico Junius says the council is aware of the challenges faced by the town.
“We will try to do our best to deliver services and improve the standards with the means we have,” he says.
Striking workers returned to work on Monday, and all services have been restored.
The council says it cannot afford a 4% salary increase due to historical debts with NamPower and NamWater. In a petition delivered to the council last week, Rehoboth constituency councillor Harald Kambrudi said leaving residents without water and electricity is a violation of their human rights as these services are deemed essential.
