Residents in the rural areas of the Oshikoto Region have relayed how traditional wells are their only hope as efforts from the Ministry of Agriculture , Water and Land Reform ( MAWLR ) remain in vain . Villages in the Eengodi and Okankolo constituencies have normalised getting water from traditional wells , which sometimes dry out , leaving them without water for several hours while the wells fill up again . According to Eengodi Constituency councillor , Protasius Neshuku in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday , traditional wells are their only hope because the water in all the boreholes is salty and therefore not consumable . ‘ We have been complaining about thirst for years now , but nothing is being done and the only way is for us to stick to our traditional wells ,’ Neshuku said . Neshuku also urged the ministry to speed up the desalination process in some of the boreholes because many communities gather at traditional wells for hours to get water . Ohaiyanda village ‘ s headman , Johannes Shigwedha also
described the drought situation as a usual occurrence during the months of May to December , when people turn to traditional wells to get water . MAWLR head of rural water supply in Oshikoto , Stevenson Tuukondjele said they have taken note of the challenges of salty borehole water and low pipe water pressure . He added that the ministry ‘ s water tanker truck has broken down and as a result , they are not able to transport water to the communities in the Eengodi and Okankolo constituencies . Tuukondjele also highlighted that the issue with low water pressure will be resolved as soon as the Ondangwa – Omutsegwonime pipeline is repaired and upgraded in order to increase water security in those areas . ‘ MAWLR has recently introduced mini desalination plants to purify salty borehole water . Two boreholes at Omeyantalala and Otanaha were desalinated using reverse osmosis . Four others at Onelago , Akazulu , Oshikondailwa and Otatashe have been awarded to the contractors to be desalinated ,’ Tuukondjele said

So
urce: The Namibia News Agency