On the land border between Angola and Namibia, marked by the posts of Santa Clara (Angola) and Oshikango (Namibia), the lack of water is confirmed by the movement of women and children with containers in search of the precious liquid.
Among dozens of people, eager for the water that has been missing since last August in that Angolan village, affected by the municipality of Namacunde, Cunene province, is Maria Cambinda, 16, who said she missed school due to lack of water.
“The lack of water here has been going on for two months, we don’t have water, even at school we are not going, there is no water, and we are only drinking water from the cicimba (well),” said the student.
According to Maria Cambinda, the lack of water is known to the municipal authorities and whenever it gushes in some neighborhoods, a 10-liter bucket is sold between 200 kwanzas (0.22 euros) and 250 kwanzas (0.28 euros) against the previous 50 kwanzas (0.05 euros).
“There’s still a place where water is gushing, but the queue is huge and many people can’t,” he lamented, pointing to an area where a huge queue of people was waiting for their turn to get a 20-litre water canister.
With a small road separating Angolan and Namibian soil, it is there where many people have found a source of water for their consumption, which leads many to get up early to get the scarce liquid.
“I arrived here at 5:00 a.m. in search of water, we are coming from distant neighborhoods to get here in this border area,” said Georgina Satundu, who, impatient for waiting for the water that flowed there, waited for her turn.
“The people of Santa Clara are suffering, we have been without water since August, here at this tap it is free, but there is also no pressure,” said the housekeeper.
Juliana Atusheni, a 23-year-old student, lamented the lack of water in that region of southern Angola, noting that the Angolan President, João Lourenço, only contemplated the locality with the money from the Kwenda (cash transfer program).
“João Lourenço only gave us money from Kwenda and didn’t give us water (…) When there are places with water, we always have discussions between people to get a little,” he said.
Namacunde, Cuvelai, Ombandja, Curoca, Cuanhama and Cahama are the six municipalities that make up the province of Cunene, which in recent years has been greatly affected by drought, with central and local authorities developing projects to respond to the shortage.
The lack of water in Santa Clara was also confirmed by a Russian doctor, working at the local Health Center, who noted the increase in cases of diseases.
“Here there is a lot of coughing, a lot of bronchitis, a lot of flu, the climate is dry, it’s hot, sometimes water is difficult, but we work and we serve everyone who comes to us here at the center,” said the intern, who has been working in Angola for 15 years.
To Lusa, the municipal administrator of Namacunde, Cristina Naheme Omuno, acknowledged the shortage, indicating that the “effort is being made so that little by little the situation of water shortage is minimized”.
“At this very moment I refer to the actions already completed within the scope of the PIIM (Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities), not in all localities, but in some parts of the municipality and future projects will also bring and cover other locations”, he assured.
Namacunde, a region considered endemic by Guinea worm or dracunculosis, according to the World Health Organization, has an estimated population of about 150 thousand inhabitants.
Source: Angola24Horas