COMMUNITY MEMBERS AGGREIVED OVER POOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN NAMIBIA

Aggrieved community members of the Okondjatu district are up in arms over the constant shoddy construction work executed at the poorly developed village, north east of Okahandja, in the Otjozondjupa Region.

Some community members raised serious concerns over the habitual awarding of tenders to what they termed fly-by-night construction companies, that seem to be falling way short of the requirements to properly fulfill their assignments.

At the center of the storm is the seemingly permanently unfinished clinic that has been cruising in slow motion for over a decade since construction started in 2011.

The clinic has been dismantled about five times, as quantity surveyors were not impressed with the dangerously sub-standard foundation of the building. This led to the unavoidable sacking of the contractors.

However, their successors also failed to clear the first hurdle and were subsequently ushered through the exit door, leaving the tortoise-paced project stalling for a few more years before it resumed under new contractors.

The new kid on the block, Twali Construction is determined to put to rest any concerns potential patients might have entertained over the immediate future and ultimate completion of the much anticipated and long overdue community health center. New Era caught up with Twali Construction site manager Twali Haitanga, to take us through the process.

“We had to restart the project from scratch, dismantling the entire structure from the foundation upwards because of bad planning from the previous contractors and other challenges, such as drainage systems and other burning issues such as the suitability of water consumption.

“It should also be noted that we came on board during the devastating Covid-19 pandemic lockdown period, thus delaying work to the project as building materials could not be delivered on schedule,” he said.

Meanwhile, disgruntled road users in the Okondjatu area, are questioning the rationale of awarding tenders to unproven road constructors with little or no experience in road rehabilitation. The recently completed six-kilometer stretch of supposed gravel road is falling apart and now looks worse than it was previously, due to what locals say is shoddy work.

It has been established that the rookie road constructors filled the road with plenty of soft soil with minimal ingredients of the prescribed amount of stones, which would have tightened the surface to protect it against rain and sufficiently sustain the massive weight of heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles.