Road cost balloons by N$36m

The transport ministry has approved further funding of N$36 million for the construction of a gravel road between Omakange and Onamatanga, after the Roads Contractor Company (RCC), which was originally awarded a N$21 million tender to construct the road five years ago, failed to make headway on the project.RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon told Namibian Sun their request for further funding had been approved by the ministry and they would now find a contractor for the 41km road project.Fillemon said the RCC had only been paid for work done, but could not say exactly how much of the original N$21 million budget had been spent and what had happened to the rest of the money.“The RA and works and transport ministry, through the Omusati regional council, awarded this tender to the RCC to construct the said road in November 2013, but up to now the RCC only managed to de-bush about half of the total distance,” Fillemon said.She added that the RA had terminated the RCC's contract for non-performance and its machinery was removed from the site.When Namibian Sun visited Onamatanga last month, the RCC was still on site. When contacted, RCC acting CEO Seth Herunga would not comment.Ruacana constituency councillor Andreas Shintama said the RCC remained on site although the work had ground to a halt in 2014.Shintama said he had written several letters to the transport ministry, requesting that the project be speeded up. The latest response he received from the ministry was that it was considering the project.“This road is very bad throughout the year and it needs to be attended to as soon as possible. There are many businesspeople who declared an interest in upgrading Onamatanga, but due to the road's condition they cannot go ahead,” Shintama said.“It is also difficult to take government services to the area due to this bad road. It was a good thing that the RA considered upgrading it, but now we don't know what went wrong with the RCC.”Former transport minister Erkki Nghimtina launched the construction work in 2013. However, to date, the RCC has de-bushed less than 20km of the road.“We thought it was a relief for us to get a gravel road, but now we don't know what happened. There are many cases of community members who either died or gave birth while on the way to the hospital because of the condition of the road,” Onamatanga Primary School principal Johannes Shaanika told Namibian Sun.“We have a local clinic, but it takes an ambulance from the Okahao district hospital a long time to reach us, and during the rainy season they do not reach us at all.” Onamatanga is about 120km from Okahao.Shaanika expressed his disappointment, saying the two parastatals (the RA and RCC) seemed to be unconcerned about the welfare of local residents. He said Onamatanga is only accessible by four-wheel-drive vehicles because the road is sandy, making it dangerous and difficult to drive.During the rainy season the area is not accessible at all. Shaanika added the RCC had exacerbated the already bad condition of the road. He said he had written many letters enquiring about the road, but did not receive a single response.“It is now four years, but we don't know why the road works have not started. This road means a lot to the community of Onamatanga,” said an irate Shaanika.ILENI NANDJATO

Road cost balloons by N$36m

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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Road cost balloons by N$36m

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-01

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