N$65 million road falls apart

N$65 million road falls apartLack of culverts blamed for wash-aways A road that was opened slightly more than five years ago has become impassable after recent heavy rain in the north. Recent heavy rain in northern Namibia has caused severe damage to gravel roads that had cost the government millions of dollars not so long ago.

One of these is the Ekamba-Onkani gravel road, district road DR 3643, in the Oshana Region, which was built at a cost of N$65 million by Namibian contractor Nexus Civils in partnership with six small and medium enterprise (SME) contractors.

The road was opened in November 2011 and was jointly funded by the Namibian and German governments.

The road stretches 55 kilometres and was one of many labour-based road projects embarked upon after independence.

Besides potholes caused by a lack of maintenance, the rain has now gouged deep trenches across the road at numerous places.

Road users are blaming the contractors for not installing enough culverts to channel storm water during the rainy season.

With no warning signs on the road, extreme vigilance is required from drivers to avoid plunging into the dongas.

“Please take pictures and report the bad state of this road so they can come renovate it,” a frustrated driver shouted from his car when he saw Namibian Sun's reporter with a camera.

Road users who talked to Namibian Sun said they were surprised that the road had deteriorated so badly in such a short time. They said it needed urgent attention from the government.

“Government has neglected us. I have not seen this road being maintained for over a year now and it was already damaging our cars as the potholes are so many and so big that we could not avoid them anymore. Now look at it.

This was just a waste of money, as the contractors used weak sand and this is the result,” one driver said.

Approached for comment, the regional councillor for the Uuvudhiya Constituency, Amutenya Ndahafa, admitted that the road was in very poor condition. He said he had been informed that gravel roads in the other north-central regions were in a similar state.

“During the course of last year this road was never maintained and I approached the relevant authorities on numerous occasions. I wrote about five letters and it seems like the company that was contracted to maintain these roads does not have money,” Ndahafa said.

Ndahafa said he had spoken on the local radio service, warning residents about the dangerous condition of the road.

He hinted that plans might be afoot for the road to be tarred and appealed to road users to be patient while he conveyed their concerns to the relevant authorities.

At the inauguration of the road, former transport minister Erkki Nghimtina said the road would make it possible for local farmers to transport their produce to markets in the Oshana and Omusati regions.



KENYA KAMBOWE