Tsumkwe West residents receive electricity
MANGETTI DUNE - The deputy minister of mines and energy, Kornelia Shilunga, on Tuesday officially switched on electricity for residents of Tsumkwe West in the Otjozondjupa region after the completion of the government’s rural electrification programme in the area in March this year.
The electrification project of Rooidag Gate, M’kata village and Mangetti Dune was made possible by government’s rural electrification programme through the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said Shilunga
The deputy minister said government in November 2020 unveiled nearly N$40 million for this overhead power line connection to Tsumkwe constituency from the national electricity grid near Grootfontein, for a distance of 125 kilometres.
She said the project was launched by energy minister Tom Alweendo and the Central North Regional Electricity Distributor (Cenored) was tasked to construct the power lines.
“I am therefore overjoyed for Cenored that responded to the call and working with the ministry in tackling this national challenge of electrifying the sparsely populated rural areas in Tsumkwe,” she said.
Shilunga then revealed that the Ministry of Mines and Energy has a big plan of electrifying all households in the country by the year 2040, where the national power corporation (NamPower), all regional electricity distributors, regional and local authority councils would be involved to supply electricity to villages, farms and settlements.
A total of 183 households in Tsumkwe alone were electrified at Rooidag Gate, M’kata and Mangetti Dune during this programme, she said.
“This includes individual houses, schools, government offices, police stations, clinics, hostels, teachers’ houses and businesses as well as the installation of street lights at these places,” she said.
Otjozondjupa governor James Uerikua on his part said his office will continue to propose an expansion of this same rural electrification from Mangetti Dune to Tsumkwe settlement and Gam, where solar panels and diesel-powered generators still remain a source of electricity.
Tsumkwe constituency councillor Johannes Hausiku thanked government on behalf of inhabitants, saying this reliable electricity is what the community needed the most.
He said farmers in the area are thankful, school children thrilled and community members happy to use it for domestic and commercial purposes.
Tsumkwe constituency has nearly 10 000 inhabitants, said Hausiku.