The City of Windhoek (CoW) has commenced terminating free water supply to Windhoek’s rural informal settlements due to a financial burden of approximately N.dollars 90 million owed by the government.
In an interview with Nampa here on Tuesday, CoW’s spokesperson Harold Akwenye said the municipality cannot sustain the financial burden of providing free water supply which was instituted in March 2020 as a government directive, due to COVID-19.
He said Council had already taken the decision in November 2021 to effectively terminate the provision of free water by February 2022, however, the commencement could only take place in March.
The CoW, he revealed spends approximately N.dollars 4 million per month for the supply of free water across all Windhoek’s rural communities, noting that the closure of the water is done in phases and residents should expect complete discontinuation by the end of April 2022. The prepaid water system will then be reinstated.
Akwenye added that amongst the factors that informed the council decision was illegal connectivity of water pipes from the 1 320 standpipes (community taps) which resulted in the misuse and abuse of water, contributing to the higher water bill.
“Residents have connected water pipes illegally stretching to their households where they have established car washes. In some instances people from other areas of Windhoek are collecting water with 500ml water drums from these community taps,” he noted.
He further indicated that residents have been informed through various platforms and will be required to use their water tokens purchased at various municipal offices.