Flood damage hits N$2 billion

THE damage to infrastructure caused by the floods in north-central Namibia over the past three months is estimated at N$2 billion, including remapping and rezoning Oshakati to make the town less flood prone.

‘We have to re-plan parts of Oshakati, which lies in a shallow pan or oshana, relocate informal households to higher ground and build water drainage systems,’ Erastus Negonga, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Local and Regional Government, told The Namibian yesterday. ‘We have to then fill up shallow areas in Oshakati with tonnes of sand to raise the level of the ground. The channels of the two shallow riverbeds at Oshakati will be deepened considerably so that future waters from heavy rains can flow off and can be re-routed,’ Negonga added. According to him, people who live in the informal settlement areas will be relocated to the northern outskirts of Oshakati, where the ground is higher. ‘Doing all this will cost an estimated N$1,6 billion with regard to Oshakati, while about N$400 million will be used to repair roads, sewerage systems and bridges nearby and in other affected towns in the area, so the total cost for infrastructure has been estimated at about N$2 billion. ‘We must do this exercise properly to get rid of the flood problems permanently, otherwise the local population will remain traumatised,’ he added. Floods have hit the area twice within one year, after the last big flood was experienced in 1972. A group of Belgian architects have already drafted overhaul plans for Oshakati and made a presentation last week to Oshakati Mayor Katrina Shimbulu, municipal officials and interested parties, Nampa news agency reported last Thursday. There will be public hearings in due course to inform residents about the future look of Oshakati, according to Nampa.