The Oshana Regional Council has put the construction of one earth dam in each of its 11constituencies in the region on hold due to alleged technical problems experienced during the tendering process.
The regional council was awarded an amount of N$15 million by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to construct earth dams in various constituencies in the region to harvest water which often floods some areas, saving the water for later use.
Chief regional officer Teopolina Hamutumwa says the budget of the earth dams includes the excavation, construction and rehabilitation of earth dams in the constituencies that are most affected by floods.
“The tender for about six earth dams was advertised earlier this year to begin with the process of construction and rehabilitation of the earth dams, however, we had to cancel it immediately when we noticed some technical irregularities.
“Everything was done, and we were just about to award the tender to the successful bidder, but we had to stop it due to technical problems within the procurement process.
“We have handed over the matter to the Anti-Corruption Commission to allow for further investigation,” she says.
Hamutumwa says the tender had to be cancelled due to collusion.
“We will issue a tender for the other five earth dams before the end of this month, because we want to begin with the construction and rehabilitation before the year ends.
“We will continue to follow up on the matter, and we will definetly not go ahead with the construction of these dams until the matter has been cleared up,” she says.
Uukwiyushona constituency councillor Andreas Amundjindi says the regional council must sort out the issue, because it delays the development of capital projects in the region.
“The earth dams must be constructed before the rain falls, and they must tell us the truth about why the construction of earth dams in the region is put on hold,” he says.
The agriculture ministry has managed to mobilise funds amounting to about N$98 million to construct and rehabilitate earth dams in various constituencies within the northern regions.
This would be conducted in the Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Kavango East and Kavango West regions.
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