Namibia: Floods swamp Omuntele

OMUNTELE - Dozens of homesteads in Omuntele Constituency of Oshikoto Region are flooded.

By Friday afternoon, at least seven families were rescued and relocated to tents erected on higher, drier ground.

With heavy rains continuing to fall, more relocations are likely as the seasonal floods swamp more homesteads.

Omuntele Constituency’s Chief Control Officer, Justinus Pataka, said at least 12 villages are affected.

Pataka said the affected families and their belongings would be relocated to high ground and provided with tents.

Community members blame the flooding on the newly-constructed Okatope-Onanke Road, which runs through Omuntele Constituency. Villagers claim the contractors that built the gravel road did not build bridges and culverts across waterways – thus the diverted water is now flooding their homes.

“We are not against development, but they were supposed to put up bridges to allow the water to flow freely along the usual waterways,” said Maria Kadhila, a resident of Okaputa village.

According to Kadhila, this is the second year her homestead gets flooded.

She said that last year the flooding was minimal, as the floodwater had washed away part of the gravel road and found a course to follow.

“But this year, the flooding is worse because the contractor came back and repaired the road by putting up piles and piles of sand to make sure there is no flow at all,” said Hendrina Shilunga, who has suffered part of her mahangu field being totally flooded.

Apart from the mahangu fields, Shilunga and many other villagers also lost their food as their silos were flooded.

Homesteads, including those of meekulu Cecilia Johannes and an elderly woman and her family of five including minor children, were partly destroyed.

Johannes said she has been a resident of Okaputa village since 1980, but her homestead was only flooded last year and this year.

Johannes said her homestead was flooded and destroyed following heavy rains accompanied by storms last week Wednesday.

“Since then, water has been running from the road, filling up my mahangu field and my homestead. You can see that even right now water is moving and the level is increasing,” said Johannes.

Pataka confirmed that the road “has a major effect on the flooding” in his constituency, adding the problem would soon be rectified.

According to him, three bridges were supposed to be completed before the end of the 2011 financial year, but now because of the rain, the bridges would only be completed after the rainy season.

- New Era