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Articles: Okakarara crisis deepens

Posted by admin on Friday, July 09, 2004 - 02:09 AM

THE crises at Okakarara in the Otjozondjupa Region are set to deepen.
NamPower has given the town until Wednesday to pay close to N$1 million or face a power blackout. Okakarara is currently reeling as it grapples with a serious water shortage after NamWater cut the town's water supply last week over non-payment of debts. The Okakarara Town Council is said to owe the two State utilities a combined amount of N$2,8 million, which has apparently accumulated over a number of years. Yesterday the town's Mayor, Tjatjitirani Kandukira, confirmed to the The Namibian that NamPower had given the Council until next week to settle over N$900 000 of the N$1,6 million it owed. "For us to raise that amount of money in that period of time is impossible. We don't have even a single blue cent in our account," Kandukira said. "We have not even paid the allowances of our councillors for the last two months... we just can't, there is nothing." He pleaded with the two institutions to give the Council at least six months to sort out its financial problems through a number of measures being put in place to improve its debt collection system. NamPower, which in May cut electricity supply to Okakarara for three days until the Town Council made a payment of N$100 000, has persistently remained tight-lipped on the issue. Kandukira revealed that water shortages remained a problem as NamWater had now adopted what he termed a "drink-as-you-pay" approach, in reference to the pre-paid agreement signed between NamWater and some indebted towns. "We never agreed to this. It was forced on us, we had no choice but to take it because they (NamWater) really put their foot and didn't want to listen to anything else," the Mayor said. "We pay, we drink, we don't, they cut... that is the situation now." This argument was strongly disputed by NamWater's Head of Corporate Service and Public Relations, John Shigwedha, who said:"The pre-paid agreement was a result of our negotiation and nobody was forced into it." Shigwedha said in terms of the agreement the owing town council would make a payment, 33 per cent of which would cover its arrears and the remainder would go to the current account. "This means that we will continue to supply water to them equivalent to any amount they pay... they pay we supply, if they don't pay we cut," the water utility spokesperson stressed. The Okakarara Mayor also attributed his Town Council's financial woes to the fact that the revenue it collected from water customers fell far below the cost of buying water from NamWater. He stated that the Town Council paid an average of N$100 000 a month to NamWater for bulk water supply, but only collected about N$30 000 every month from the residents. "We have a serious problem of water used in the informal settlements without payment. We will now install [water] meters there and maybe this will broaden our revenue base," the Mayor said. Shigwedha dismissed claims of bankruptcy by the Okakarara Town Council and suggested that the problem lay in poor management. He claimed that NamWater has a water pump at Okakarara which uses electricity from the municipality, but every time the Town Council has to be reminded to bill NamWater. "If NamWater always has to remind them (the municipality) to bill us so that we can pay for their services, just imagine how many other service users who go unbilled," Shigwedha noted. The residents of Okakarara are said to owe their Council more than N$6 million in unpaid water and electricity bills.

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