Tenants at the !Homs-Ai community market in Keetmanshoop, located between Krönlein and Tseiblaagte, have been without water since September 2021.
Managed by the Namibia Industrial Development Agency (NIDA), a commercial State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) resorting under the Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT), the centre to date has an outstanding amount of N.dollars 190 000 for water and electricity.
Since the power and water supplies were cut off, practically all tenants have fled the market, leaving only two businesses to continue operations.
In an interview, Wessel !Nanuseb, NIDA’s senior manager for corporate services and human resources, told Nampa the building houses a restaurant, supermarket, bakery, radio station, five line shops, an arena, 13 lockable vendor spaces, 30 open vendor spaces, and they pay N.dollars 100 per month and some N.dollars 30 per square metre.
He claimed that the cut-off is based on NIDA’s arrears account and tenants who are substantially behind on their rent.
When asked if there is a plan in place to turn on the water, !Nanuseb indicated that efforts are being made to restore supply but did not specify what these efforts are or when the situation will be resolved.
The majority of the buildings were unoccupied and shuttered, but Nampa spoke with the manager of the ||Kharas community radio station, Marius Bloodstaan, who stated that the station has been in operation since 2008 but relocated to !Homs-Ai in 2014.
Bloodstaan stated that the current difficulty of not having access to water is a major concern, and that they are doing everything possible to continue producing content and keeping the community informed.
“Every day, we bring water from our homes to clean the station. Because of the nature of our industry, we cannot work in a dirty environment. We receive individuals from all walks of life and positions, even dignitaries,” he explained.
He stated that he and his eight employees at the station have lost hope and have lost faith in NIDA to remedy the situation anytime soon because, despite meeting with NIDA management, they have seen no results or change to date.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency