OPUWO: Traditional leaders in the Kunene Region have called on government to speed up the implementation of the drought programme to relieve communities and livestock in the four affected constituencies in the region.

Several traditional leaders in the Kunene Region visited the Governor of the region, Josua //Hoebeb on Friday to register their concerns about the slow implementation of the drought relief programme.

Amongst the traditional leaders was Chief Vemuii Tjambiru of the Kakurukouje Traditional Authority.

Tjambiru told Nampa on Monday that they wanted to know from the governor why it is taking the government so long to bring the needed assistance to the community, if the money for that purpose has been allocated already.

“We hoped to be assisted faster, but now we are about to lose livestock due to the long distances to drinking points and grazing areas,” said Tjambiru.

The leaders also wanted to know when boreholes are going to be drilled at areas they identified for drilling emergency water points.

Approached for comment, //Hoebeb told Nampa on Monday that he wrote a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister last week requesting detailed information on the drought relief programme and the budget break-down, but he has not received a reply yet.

“My office learned about the N.dollars 32 million (drought relief budget) from the newspapers, but there are no official documents about that from the Office of the Prime Minister to my office,” said //Hoebeb.

He went on to say that his office was also concerned about the delay in the implementation of the drought relief programme, but added that there is nothing his office can do about it.

“The drought relief is being handled by the officials in the Kunene Regional Council and the Office of the Prime Minister in Windhoek, and my office is trying to link up and to be updated with all the information of progress on the drought relief programme, but this information flow is also coming slow,” noted //Hoebeb.

The governor said he also informed officials in the Office of the Prime Minister that “time was not on their side”, and that all stakeholders should join hands and start working towards the implementation of the drought relief programme in the Kunene Region.

The communities in the four constituencies of Epupa, Opuwo, Sesfontein and Khorixas received maize meal in June this year, but that did not form part of the allocated N.dollars 32 milion.

It is not known when the next consignment of food will be delivered and when the drilling of the 30 boreholes will start in the region.