OTAVI – Residents of Otavi are currently indebted to their local municipality for over N$75.4 million in unpaid fees for water:Residents of Otavi are currently indebted to their local municipality for over N$75.4 million in unpaid fees for water, erven, and other council utilities. This substantial financial burden is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s government mandate, which required councils and municipalities to continue providing water to all citizens, regardless of payment arrears.
According to Namibia Press Agency, in an interview with the Namibia Press Agency, the mounting debts have severely impacted the municipality’s ability to deliver essential services. Consequently, the municipality has been forced to discontinue services to consumers who have been delinquent for more than 60 days. “The methods now used by the council to collect debt include termination of services. The cut-off date for unpaid accounts is immediately after the due date for payment of accounts and the actual cut-off process
shall continue for as long as accounts remain unpaid,” Haulofu explained.
The municipality’s aggressive measures to recover debts include issuing a 30-day warning notice to businesses, institutions, and households before terminating water services at the 60-day overdue mark. Haulofu highlighted that the municipality is not only struggling to collect debts from residents but is also facing its own financial challenges, owing a total of N$65.2 million to various service providers. “Our total outstanding debt to our service providers as of the end of July 2024 is N$65,188,616.06. We owe NamWater N$62,940,193.56, Ritta Khiba Planning Consultants N$2,024,322.50, and Stubenrauch Planning Consultants N$224,100,” he detailed.
In an effort to mitigate these financial issues, the municipality has increasingly relied on the installation of prepaid water meters. These meters deduct 30 percent of every purchase towards settling the consumer’s outstanding balance. “The installation of prepaid meters for all consumers can
help repay the debt. When a consumer purchases water or electricity, a portion of the cost is removed to cover their previous debt, often 30 percent,” Haulofu noted.
The CEO also expressed concern over the town’s ability to meet its service delivery obligations given the significant arrears owed by both residents and businesses. “The municipality is currently unable to pay its water and electricity bulk suppliers and most of our day-to-day operations have been negatively impacted,” he lamented.
