Residents of Otavi owe the municipality N . dollars 75 . 4 million in unpaid water , erven , and other council utility fees . The vast majority of these debts are equally attributable to the COVID – 19 pandemic ‘ s government decree , which required councils and municipalities to provide water to all citizens , regardless of whether they were in arrears . According to Otavi municipal Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) Wodibo Sakaria Haulofu in an interview with Nampa on Sunday , these debts are now impeding municipal service delivery , prompting the municipality to discontinue services to consumers who are 60 days overdue . ‘ 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 ,’ he said . Haulofu stated that businesses and institutions , including households , receive a 30 – day warning notice for
any arrears , and that water service is terminated when payments are 60 days late . Haulofu stressed that the council also owes its suppliers N . dollars 65 . 2 million . ‘ Our total outstanding debt to our service providers as of the end of July 2024 is N . dollars 65 188 616 . 06 . We owe NamWater N . dollars 62 940 193 . 56 , Ritta Khiba Planning Consultants N . dollars 2 024 322 . 50 , and Stubenrauch Planning Consultants N . dollars 224 100 ,’ he stated . Among other methods of accelerating debt collection , the municipality is increasingly relying on pre – paid water meters , which charge households 30 per cent of all water purchases , which are subsequently applied to their debts . ‘ 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 per cent ,’ he noted . Haulofu went on to say that the town is struggling to meet its service delivery obligations in light
of all the arrears owed by 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 also said .

Source: The Namibia News Agency