Namibia: Govt Urged to Ditch Kavango Water Link Project
The Namibian Chamber of Environment is urging the government to cancel the Kavango Link water project, citing environmental concerns and potential conflict with Botswana. Critics argue the 1974 plan is outdated and ignores modern climate and economic realities.
Why it matters
The project highlights the tension between national infrastructure development and regional environmental sustainability in Southern Africa.
Governor questions if project will benefit community
The Namibian Chamber of Environment (NCE) has urged the government to abandon plans to draw water from the Kavango River to supplement water supplies to Windhoek and central areas.
The chamber warned that the river is already exploited by unmonitored green schemes and farms.
NCE chief executive Chris Brown says the proposed Kavango Link project is based on a decades-old plan that no longer reflects current environmental, economic and regional realities.
Brown says this in an open letter titled 'Namibia can do better than the Kavango Link project' addressed to prime minister Elijah Ngurare this week.
The Kavango Link is a long-standing government plan to transfer water from the Kavango River near Rundu to the central parts of Namibia, including Windhoek, through a pipeline to Grootfontein that would connect to the existing Eastern National Water Carrier.
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