REPAIRING roads damaged by floods will cost nearly half a billion dollars this year, Works and Transport Minister Erkki Nghimtina told Parliament yesterday.
The Roads Authority estimates the damage to be around N$500 million based on the previous assessment of the flood road damage in 2009, the Minister said.’The immediate accessibility restoration cost estimates are N$40 million, while waiting for the waters to subside in order to determine the full extent of flood-related damages,’ Nghimtina said.Final cost assessments will be available after the flood assessment has been completed by the middle of the month, he said.According to the Minister, at least 23 major gravel roads in 10 regions are in ‘urgent need’ of fixing. Most of these are in Ohangwena, where seven roads have been washed away. Omusati has five affected roads, while Oshana has three.There are two severely damaged roads in Omaheke, including one to the Buitepos border post. Khomas has two affected roads, while Hardap, Erongo, Otjozondjupa and Oshikoto each have one.The road between Karasburg and Ariamsvlei will cost N$25 million to repair and should be fixed by the middle of May, Nghimtina said.His Ministry has already started patching up potholes and road wash-aways, using small and medium enterprise (SME) contractors, he said.’This process, however, is commencing at a slow pace due to continuous rainfall, especially in the northern parts of Namibia,’ Nghimtina said.He added that the ministry already faces a financial backlog with periodic maintenance of the road network. ‘According to our assessment for this financial year, the Roads Authority requires a lot of money for road maintenance projects,’ he said.
