Placido Hilukilwa
THE Oshana Regional Council has deployed two NDF helicopters to transport foodstuffs to cattle posts and to take health services professionals to rural villages that are currently not reachable by road due to damaged roads and impassable, full-to-capacity water pans.
Torrential rains continue to pound the northern regions, while floodwater continues to flow in from Angola, worsening the already precarious situation faced by residents.
According to the Oshana Regional Council, seven schools have closed and several others are affected and difficult to reach, while several gravel roads were washed away at multiple places:
- The gravel road from Ondangwa to Uukwiyu Uushona was washed away at two different places,
- The gravel road from the Ondangwa Correctional Facility was washed away by overflowing sewer ponds,
- The Okapya-Ohalushu gravel road was damaged at four different places,
- The Onamutuku-Onkani gravel road was damaged at seven different places,
- The Oshuuli-Onaanda-Omapopo road is also affected.
According to information released by the Regional Council, the region’s tarred roads are also negatively affected and have developed potholes.
Rural villages in the Ongwediva, Ondangwa Rural, and Okatana constituencies, and grazing areas in the Okatjali, Ompundja, and Uuvudhiya constituencies, are out of reach.
The payment of monthly social grants is also affected, as a number of pay points are currently unreachable.
Besides the two helicopters, the regional authorities have also deployed four boats to transport people and goods, while desperate local people are resorting to using makeshift canoes to get to the other side of iishana that are full to the brim.
Meanwhile, many subsistence farmers’ hopes of a good harvest were dashed as their crop fields are submerged in rain/floodwater.
The appearance of armyworms in some parts of the region has added to the farmers’ worries.
