The Rundu Concerned Citizens Association (RCCA) on Wednesday pleaded with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development to have the town’s water debt of N.dollars 211 million to NamWater written off.
Its chairperson Reginald Ndara, who also serves as a councillor at the Rundu Town Council (RTC), made the plea during a public hearing following a motion tabled by Landless People’s Movement Member of Parliament Henny Seibeb in 2022 for Namwater to forgo historic debt owed by local authorities of up to N.dollars 1.8 billion.
The committee is visiting all 14 regions to see how the problem of water and electricity debt owed by local authorities to NamWater and NamPower can be resolved.
“Rundu's water debt comes a long way. We haven't started speaking about these debts today. Debts cause frustration and a lack of development. If a decision on the cash-strapped municipality’s debt is not taken now, chaos could erupt in the future,” Ndara said.
He pleaded with the standing committee to try and convince Parliament to write off the historic debt of Rundu, saying that in doing so, the RTC would also write off water debt of over N.dollars 300 million owed to it by the residents.
According to Ndara, RTC is and never will be in a position to pay off this debt which dates back to more than two decades.
In response, Standing Committee member Edson Isaacks said: “All is not well everywhere and we understand the situation. People are angry and they want these debts cancelled as it is hampering development.”
Isaacks said the committee will go back and look at how other countries are doing before it tables its recommendations to Parliament.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency