SWAKOPMUND: The Erongo Regional Council is hard at work to restore the Uis settlement’s status as a Village Council.

The Uis Village Council was downgraded to settlement status some two years ago, and the Regional Council is now looking at additional funding and resources to revamp the settlement’s entire infrastructure, and re-engineer its administrative processes.

The chairperson of the Regional Council’s management committee, councillor Hafeni Ndemula announced during the ordinary regional council meeting held here on Friday that the downgrading of Uis in the Erongo Region to a settlement area has placed strain on the council’s finances for the 2012/2013 financial year.

The Uis Village Council had accumulated debts of N.dollars 4,3 million with the Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) by the time it was downgraded to a settlement, and the settlement has been battling to settle this debt since.

The escalating debt led to the settlement losing out on possible revenue from water sales as the funds were thereafter collected directly from customers by NamWater, and an attempt by the Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development to settle the debt by contributing N.dollars 3 million, proved to be insufficient.‘The debt has been continuously increasing due to the exorbitant monthly interest charges by NamWater, but the Regional Council is making all efforts to clear this outstanding debt,’ Ndemula noted.