N$12b transport plan under fire

A number of concerns were raised this week during the final presentation of the much-anticipated transport masterplan for the four northern regions, including fears that the project lacked meaningful public consultation.

The presentation took place at Oshikango in the Ohangwena Region where regional and local authority leaders, including works minister Alpheus !Naruseb and urban and rural development minister Sophia Shaningwa, sought additional clarity regarding the plan aimed at solving many transport-related challenges facing the four regions.

The transport masterplan, which took two years to develop, is an initiative that derived from stakeholder engagement that took place in 2014 where the transport needs of the people in the Oshana, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Omusati regions were discussed.

The aim of the 20-year envisioned masterplan is to complement government's aims and objectives with regard to improving the road networks in Namibia with specific focus on accessibility, mobility and connectivity.

Following the presentation, it was indicated that compensation will have to be made to the people who have constructed in the road reserves, which raised concern for !Naruseb.





“If this is going to be the case, more people will start constructing in the road reserves intentionally just for compensation,” he said.

On the issue of people who have constructed in the road reserves, Shaningwa asked whether consultations were done to sensitise them and whether agreements were reached, hinting that government does not have the financial capacity to carry out an exercise of compensation on a grand scale.

“When we travel from Omuthiya, you can see fixed assets constructed in the road reserves and that's why I am asking whether there were consultations made and people sensitised.

This is very important,” Shaningwa said.

The Motor Vehicle Accident (MVA) Fund CEO, Rosalia Martins-Hausiku, also added to the concerns, saying his organisation was left out during the drawing up of the master plan.

She added some of the information regarding safety and the causes of accidents indicated in the plan were not accurate.



Recommendations

One of the recommendations in the plan is to do away with gravel roads.

The governor of Ohangwena, Usko Nghaamwa, indicated that it will be wrong to do this as these roads play a vital role in the daily lives of the people in his region.

Nghaamwa said although the material used in the construction of the gravel roads in his region is poor, they should remain.

“Gravel roads in my region are very important because they make it easier for my people to access important places therefore I suggest that they cannot be removed or closed,” Nghaamwa said.

Other regional and local authority leaders also expressed concerns in this regard. Transport ministry deputy director Lemmy Mutonga said there was room for amendments to be to the document.

Mutonga said that if there were any omissions, they would be rectified, adding that some of the concerns raised form part of the document's recommendations and are yet to be studied before it will be approved by Cabinet.

Thus far, the document has been handed to the ministry and from there it will be taken to Cabinet for approval.

The scoping of the master plan project was funded by the German government through the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and its implementing agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

It also comes months after the City of Windhoek suspended its pilot bus transport system because of operational challenges.

The city had introduced new routes for its buses, which were introduced on 14 November 2016.

However, the introduction of the new routes was not well received by the commuters, who argued they were not informed about the route changes, and the rationale behind it.

The city has since promised to reintroduce a revamped system this year.



KENYA KAMBOWE