Govt cannot afford permanent flood bridges, says Nekundi

Minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi says the government does not have money to build permanent bridges in regions that experience seasonal floods.

Nekundi said this on Sunday in response to questions from Kalimbeza village communities on why the government does not construct permanent bridges instead of temporary floating ones.

The communities say flooding occurs every year and that the government should build permanent bridges to prevent them from being cut off from essential services.

“In Zambezi alone if we had to put up permanent bridges, it would be over 50 to 100 bridges. If we have to put up permanent bridges now, it will take a lot of money that we don’t have. Secondly, the engineering process is a very long process. We really are aware of the challenges, but we have limited resources with a huge number of demands during the floods.

“For the areas that are only experiencing seasonal floods, we are putting up floating bridges in the meantime while we are working putting up permanent bridges one by one in the future,” Nekundi said.

He added that constructing permanent bridges would cost billions, as many regions – including Zambezi, Oshana, Oshikoto, Ohangwena and Omusati – experience seasonal flooding.

The government, through the Ministry of Works and Transport, recently bought 24 640 double floating cubes totalling N$24 million to create a rapid-response access to communities in flood-prone regions that become isolated during seasonal flooding.

A 200-metre floating bridge has been successfully installed at Kalimbeza village, while construction for another 200-metre-long bridge at Masikili village is ongoing.

Nekundi went to assess these floating bridges and said the government can only afford to build these bridges at the moment.

Kabbe North constituency councillor Bernard Sisamu says the floating bridge installed at Kalimbeza village creates access to two schools and a kindergarten.

“Pupils from the village where the floating bridge is installed can use it to access Isize Combined School and Malakana Primary School. Our children are now safely commuting to school, as opposed to using unsafe canoes or walking in floods,” he says.

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