Hulda Nuses (63), a resident of the farm /Hamas in the Karibib area of the Erongo region, says the water situation the farm is critical as residents not only have to walk long distances to fetch water, but the water is also overgrown with algae.
“The water we are drinking is not healthy water […] There are no young people here as they have all been taken by the mine to work, so we are only elderly people living here,” Nuses said on Monday.
There is another waterhole from which residents at the farm can retrieve drinkable water, but it is located even further away, she said.
Nuses said her family has reached out to the relevant authorities in the area, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reforn in the Erongo region, for assistance, but to avail.
Nuses said they were simply sent away with promises that the ministry would send water tanks to the area.
“When we get to the offices, they say we will come out to the farm to see the situation for themselves, but that’s all they do, talk,” she said.
The water they collect is sourced from a leaky dam nearby. Nuses said during the rainy season, the family had no complaints as there was a surplus of water.
She said at a certain point in time, the algae were not an issue, because they could be easily moved aside to scoop the drinkable portion.
“At first it was a lot when the rain came. We would just move the algae out of the way,” Nuses said.
According to Nuses, the strain of walking to the waterhole and carrying five-litre bottles of water has taken a toll on her, as she was hospitalised a few months back.
Her sister, Theopoltine Nuses, who resides in Windhoek, said they had approached offices as far as Swakopmund, where they were referred to Otjiwarongo. When they reached the authorities at Karibib, they were told the office had sent water tanks to areas around Karibib.
“After finishing at the Swakopmund office [ministry], we drove straight to the Karibib office and they told us that there are containers and they are going to areas around the town and /Hamas will be the first priority,” Nuses said.
The Namibian contacted the Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation Coordination’s Uahorekua Usurua, but is still waiting on a response.
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