Resettled farmers fed up with empty promises

RESETTLED farmers in Karas Region say they are fed up with the Lands and Resettlement Ministry’s empty promises to improve poor water infrastructure at their farms.

A disgruntled resettled farmer, who wanted to remain anonymous, complained to The Namibian about delays of about two years in having water installations on resettlement farms improved by the Lands Ministry. ‘At a meeting with resettled farmers in September, Minister of Lands and Resettlement Alfeus !Naruseb promised improvements to the water infrastructure, but to date water problems remain unresolved at many farms. This has resulted in livestock losses,’ the farmer said. The Permanent Secretary of Lands and Resettlement, Lidwina Shapwa, yesterday acknowledged that many farms have ‘dilapidated’ water installations. She said private contractors enlisted by Government had started assessing what repairs were needed.’Assessments have been done at 17 farms in the Karas Region regarding improvements to water infrastructures,’ Shapwa said. She added that the assessments started in Karas Region, with 88 farms countrywide having been assessed to date. Shapwa appealed to the resettled farmers to be patient, saying that the repair workload and other factors beyond the control of the Lands and Resentment Ministry were causing the delays.She said resettled farmers should be prepared to invest in improvements on their farms.’We want resettled farmers to really own the piece of land on which they were resettled. To take ownership one should also be prepared to invest in order to reap the fruits,’ she said. Shapwa slammed those resettled farmers who did not want to share water resources, adding that this was aggravating the water problems on resettlement farms. The Namibian has learnt that many resettled farmers in the Karas Region have sublet their farms.Shapwa said any farmers found guilty of subletting their farms would have their 99-year lease agreement revoked. ‘The lease agreement is clear on subletting,’ she added. However, Shapwa said it was hard to determine whether resettled farmers were subletting their farms. ‘General remarks are made about subletting, but a farmer will just tell you that he owns all livestock found grazing on a resettled farm,’ Shapwa said. A total of 59 farms, some divided into smaller units, have been allocated to farmers in the Karas Region to date. luqman@namibian.com.na