Minister of agriculture, water and land reform Calle Schlettwein has called on communities toexpose people who steal water pumps so that they can be dealt with.
The minister said every year his ministry tries very hard, with limited financial resources, to bring water to thirsty communities, but a week after communities start benefiting from the water pumps, the pumps are stolen.
“We must catch these thieves, we must deal with them. We will only do that if we all work together,” the minister said.
Schlettwein was speaking during the handover of water infrastructure for the Amarika Farmers’ Cooperative at Olumpelengwa village in the Okahao constituency of the Omusati region on Wednesday.
He said the theft of water pumps is a countrywide phenomenon.
Executive director in the ministry Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata said 120 water pumps installed to benefit different communities countrywide have been stolen.
“That shows there is little appreciation for infrastructure that is put there. I can’t believe that a borehole that’s built next to a house of a villager, installed with a solar pump, solar panels next to it, that no one realised that someone goes there with a grinder, opens the borehole, takes up the pump and steals the pump. I don’t believe that,” the minister said.
Schlettwein said communities must work together to prevent the theft of water pumps.
He said water infrastructure is very expensive, thus if the ministry builds water infrastructure for a community and it’s stolen, the ministry will not come back to that community to replace the stolen pump.
He said the ministry would rather look at communities that have not benefited at all.
“We cannot repeat it over and over again only because people are not looking after their things. That’s a big problem,” he said.
However, The Namibian is informed that some of the people stealing water pumps, particularly in the Omusati region, are allegedly officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform.
Ministry spokesperson Jona Musheko told The Namibian last month that 13 water pumps were stolen from the Kunene region, while solar panels from six boreholes were also stolen.
He said the estimated cost of the stolen water pumps and solar panels is N$822 000.
In July this year, The Namibian reported that villagers and animals in the Ohangwena, Kavango West and Kavango East regions were left thirsty after 46 communal pumps were stolen.
At the time, Musheko said 43 water pumps were valued at N$1,9 million, with 25 stolen from the Kavango West and 18 from the Kavango East region.
Musheko said the affected constituencies in Kavango West are Ncuncini, Kapako, Ncamangoro and Mpungu.
In Kavango East, the affected constituencies are: Mashare, Ndonga-Linena, Ndiyona, Rundu Rural and Mukwe.
He said the pumps were installed between 2020 and this year.
Namibian Sun last month quoted Kavango West regional governor Sirkka Ausiku, as saying in her recent state of the region address that more villages were left without water provision once again due to the theft of pumps.
Okongo constituency councillor Lebeus Shipindo told The Namibian last month three villages in his constituency were left without water after the water pump was stolen.
“I want to warn the culprits that they should be careful, as we have the capacity to bring them to book. I also want to urge our people that they should form committees to look after their boreholes,” he said.
Last year, The Namibian reported that 6 000 people from the Kavango West region were left thirsty after their water pumps were stolen.
At the time, Schlettwein also denounced the theft of water pumps.
“Law enforcement must improve,” the minister posted on his social media page.
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