Keetmans council looks to Germany for renewable energy, social housing, sanitation – The Namibian

The Keetmanshoop Municipality seeks to establish a twinning arrangement with Germany’s Kleinmachnow Municipality, in order to address the shortfalls in areas such as social housing and wastewater reclamation.

Administrators from Kleinmachnow Municipality visited Keetmanshoop in January to see the town’s infrastructure, challenges and solutions. The Keetmanshoop Municipality visited Germany in a reciprocal visit earlier this year. This allowed the two entities to move closer to formalizing their areas of cooperation. It will also include skills transfer.

Mayor of Keetmanshoop McDonald Hanse stated that the Kleinmachnow Municipality has outsourced administration of social housing provision and waste reclamation functions to independent entities.

“These entities build the houses and rent them out at an affordable fee to the residents. It’s similar to the Build Together program we have here. We are focused on giving ownership to Namibians. But our failure is in managing these programmes, that is where we can learn a lot from Kleinmachnow,” said Hanse.

Five members of a delegation visited Kleinmachnow, Germany from 28 September through 4 October. There they met with teams that manage these areas, including the Kleinmachnow council, he said.

They discussed financial assistance for the Keetmanshoop Municipality’s waste sewerage plant or reclamation facility, as the council faces challenges in reclaiming wastewater from leaking ponds.

Last year, JeggChristiaan, municipality strategic executive economic development, stated that the council was looking to find credible partners to make proposals on water reclamation and reuse. For two ponds, the cost of relining and construction of a pump stations will be about N$2million.

“It is very important for us to address the environmental challenge of sewerage water seeping into the ground and contaminating the underground water tables. The environmental pollution from surface water is another challenge. Water reclamation and reuse would mitigate, reduce and possibly even eradicate these risks,” said Christiaan.

Council approved consultation with development partners to source financing for the upgrade to the Keetmanshoop sewer oxidation (sewer ponds) ponds to allow for optimal water harvesting.

Reclaimed sewerage water is suitable for agricultural purposes and watering parks, gardens, stadiums, and other public spaces.

Hanse stated that renewable energy was another topic they discussed. The price of electricity continues to rise and councils still owe NamWater and NamPower historic debts.

“Renewable energy is the way to go. Keetmanshoop has ample sunlight and cannot lose out on developing renewable energy for its residents, that’s a great opportunity for us,” said Hanse.