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RESIDENTS of Tsaraxaibes informal settlement are demanding that the Otjiwarongo municipal council makes sewerage and drainage pipes available to them for flush toilets.
Those who are making use of the available pit latrines say there is no more space to build toilets in their yards, since they have to cover filled-up pit latrines.
There is a dire need for a sewerage system to be installed at the settlement, they say.
Grace Haufiku (32) says they have dug about three holes, of which one may be filled up within a few months.
“We do not have pipes. How long do we have to keep digging? It is very unhygienic.
“The municipality should also fix our roads due to the bad condition they are in. Taxi drivers refuse to drive to our location,” she says.
Rebekka Haises (61) says the municipality has in the past promised residents toilets, showers and houses with kitchens, “but nothing has been done”.
“We have water and electricity problems. We buy water, and if we buy water for N$20, that does not even last for a week. We also struggle with electricity, because if one buys for N$20, it is 9 units only.
“I can barely afford it, that’s how we struggle,” she says.
Eva Linus (67), who hails from the Oshikoto region, says: “I have dug over three times, and now I have no more space.
“We need flushing toilets.
I have a big family and the holes fill up depending on how often its used and how many people reside there.
“I would like to build a brick house, but we were told by the municipality we may be relocated to another area again, and have been advised not to build.”
Linus says a group of people who claimed to be municipality officials, four years ago took down the names of those who need flush toilets, but have not been heard of again.
Uldritz Horaseb (39) says the municipality should address their grievances.
Otjiwarongo mayor Gottlieb Shivute says the council will look into the matter, although it is currently struggling with funds to install sewerage systems at the informal settlements.
“We are considering providing amenities for the people . . . Some are using pit latrines at their own cost. There is a company which collects waste from their pit latrines, the council does not do that,” he says.
Shivute says progress on the sanitation issue depends on the town’s budget.
Electricity is Cenored’s mandate, he says, which has started electrifying most parts of the informal settlements.
“The municipal council is in the process of renovating tarred roads at the suburbs and at informal settlements,” he says.
A delay was caused by the good rains the town has received, and some potholes have become worse due to the rains, Shivute says.
“We used to close the potholes with some materials, which has been worn out by rainwater,” he says.
“We cannot proceed now because of the rainy season,” he says.
“The council has put various measures in place to address land delivery to members of our community as per the Harambee Prosperity Plan II,” Otjiwarongo CEO Moses Matyayi says.
He says the municipal council has introduced, among others, the accelerated land delivery programme, which involves the integration of the flexible land tenure system to formalise informal settlements to provide security of tenure to about 4 702 households.
“The council is at an advanced stage with the land delivery programme, which will enable the residents to secure land rights through the flexible land tenure system . . . and will subsequently provide access to sewer reticulation,” Matyayi says.
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