BIKES and quad bikes will only be allowed off proclaimed roads in four areas along the Namibian coast during the coming holiday season, the Minister of Environment and Tourism has announced.
Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah issued the rules for off-road driving during the festive season at Swakopmund on Friday.
She said users of off-road vehicles have in the past caused much public inconvenience and harm to the desert environment.
Around Swakopmund, the only two areas where off-roading will be allowed are the central dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay; and the area east of Swakopmund, between the Usakos-Swakopmund tarred road and the Usakos-Swakopmund railway line west of the Deblin lead mine and east of the C34 road.
The other two areas are the beach area between Mile 6 and Henties Bay and a demarcated area in the Lower Omaruru River.
‘All bikers intending to go off-road in the dune area between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay must obtain a permit and two numbered stickers so that their bikes can be identified,’ the Minister said.
The permit and stickers are obtainable free of charge from the Ministry’s Offices in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, Desert Explorers in Swakopmund and at Dare Devil Adventures at Langstrand.
Nandi-Ndaitwah appealed to all holidaymakers at the coast to adhere to the rules, adding that trespassers will be prosecuted.
She said the central dune area between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay may be accessed from the old road under the dunes through the demarcated corridor.
‘Please stay inside this corridor,’ she ordered.
It can also be accessed through demarcated corridors opposite Langstrand, Dolfynstrand near the guano platform and near Dune 7. She said no two-wheel motorbikes or quad bikes, other than registered tour operators that are using a specially approved route, will be permitted off a proclaimed road in the following areas:
•On the beaches between Swakopmund and Sandwich Harbour (including Pelican Point);
•Between the low-water mark and the first crest of the western side of the sea-facing dunes between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay;
•In the Kuiseb Delta;
•On any unproclaimed roads or tracks;
•On the eastern edge of the dune belt between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay or any gravel plains;
•Anywhere in the Swakop River;
•Anywhere inland of the north-south coastal road between Swakopmund and Henties Bay or anywhere north of Henties Bay up to the Kunene River, except on a proclaimed road.
Bikers riding on the beach north of Swakopmund do not need permits, but except for the beach area, the Ministry will not allow any driving off existing tracks.
