Allexer Namundjembo
The Ongwediva Town Council warned residents not to occupy land in flood-prone, low-lying areas.
The local authority’s spokesperson, Otilie Shingenge, on Monday, told the Windhoek Observer in an interview that the council is ready to assist those who are at risk of being impacted by floods during the rainy season.
“Our engineers are experienced, and we try not to allocate land in areas where floods can occur. Despite our efforts, people still take risks and grab land to build their houses in places where floods can easily occur and later come to the council asking for help,” Shingenge said.
She added that the council does not have a record of flooding in malls or shops after it rained.
“In our history, we never experienced that. We never had a situation where malls were blocked off by water. We only have three malls, and our town planners have carefully considered the risks of flooding before approval for building malls was given,” Shingenge said.
Shingenge added that the town council does not have storage facilities to harvest flood water and indicated that contractors, such as road contractors, do harvest water for storage, which they use during their construction.
Ongwediva has consistently experienced flooding.
In 2020, the town was flooded, which saw houses submerged underwater, due to the pans filling up around the town.
