Engineers seek cause of Dolam flooding

TWO engineering companies that submitted contradicting reports regarding the effect that the construction of the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura may have had on the flooding of homes at Dolam earlier this year exchanged reports of their findings.

Linda Ndumba, a lawyer with the Legal Assistance Centre, which is providing legal advice to the 14 affected homeowners, told The Namibian on Monday that the exchange took place last week Thursday. She said this was done so that the two could decide on the way forward and “to see if we can meet each other half-way”.She added that they would do this “within reasonable time”.Ndumba said their clients and the City of Windhoek agreed that the engineers should exchange reports after the report findings contradicted each other.Windhoek Consulting Engineers – instructed by LAC – found that there were serious flaws in the construction of the multi-million stadium.But Burmann and Partners and Lund Consulting Engineers, which did the study on behalf of the City, found that the storm water structure at the stadium was done in accordance with acceptable engineering practices.The affected homes are a stone-throw from the Sam Nujoma Stadium.In January this year, about 14 homes at Dolam were heavily flooded.Owners claimed the construction of the stadium had caused the flooding and blamed the City for not consulting with them before the stadium was constructed.Residents have demanded compensation from the City as they suffered losses as a result of the flood and needed to make infrastructural changes to their homes to prevent further flooding.But the City claimed they were not the ones to be blamed, as their engineers’ report indicated.The City has now given residents several options to resolve the matter, one of which is an offer to buy the homes from the residents.She said this was done so that the two could decide on the way forward and “to see if we can meet each other half-way”.She added that they would do this “within reasonable time”.Ndumba said their clients and the City of Windhoek agreed that the engineers should exchange reports after the report findings contradicted each other.Windhoek Consulting Engineers – instructed by LAC – found that there were serious flaws in the construction of the multi-million stadium.But Burmann and Partners and Lund Consulting Engineers, which did the study on behalf of the City, found that the storm water structure at the stadium was done in accordance with acceptable engineering practices.The affected homes are a stone-throw from the Sam Nujoma Stadium.In January this year, about 14 homes at Dolam were heavily flooded.Owners claimed the construction of the stadium had caused the flooding and blamed the City for not consulting with them before the stadium was constructed.Residents have demanded compensation from the City as they suffered losses as a result of the flood and needed to make infrastructural changes to their homes to prevent further flooding.But the City claimed they were not the ones to be blamed, as their engineers’ report indicated.The City has now given residents several options to resolve the matter, one of which is an offer to buy the homes from the residents.