Namibia is pondering a desalination programme to address water shortages and to supply irrigation schemes that consume annually some 430 million m³ of water.
The Namibian government had earmarked 600 million Namibian dollars (US$ 40.8 million) for water programmes during the 2016/17 based largely on tapping underground sources. But agriculture minister John Mutorwa was reported in regnal news website, Postzambia, as declaring drilling boreholes as a waste of financial resources while there was negligible rainfall.
Mutorwa reportedly claimed seawater desalination was, “the only option to embark upon and government has a plan on how to go about doing so.” He proposed that money in the water programme, should be used for desalination and research into managing water resources..
A coastal seawater desalination plant at Swakopmund, owned by French engineering giant Areva, has been the centre of long-running speculation over whether the government would buy the plant – supplies water to Trekkopje uranium mine - in preference to building a new facility.
Mutorwa said the Namibia Water Corporation was discussing the price with Areva.