Mutorwa calls for collaboration on Nkurenkuru-Nepara road project

NKURENKURU, 17 MAR (NAMPA)—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, has called on the residents of the Kavango West region to refrain from arguing with constructors working on the Nkurenkuru-Nepara road project in Nkurenkuru in order to make work easier.
Mutorwa made the call during a site visit of the Nkurenkuru-Nepara road project in Nkurenkuru, Kavango West Region on Monday.
He said, the residents should instead work together as a team and avoid quarrels with constructors to make work easier.
Phase one of the road will see a 10-kilometre upgrade from gravel road to low-volume seal at a cost of N. dollar 29 million and is expected to take six months.
Mutorwa urged collaboration, saying, “Each of us must ensure these roads are completed. Let us work together, address problems, and move forward. No one else will do this work for Namibia but ourselves,” he said.
He assured residents that road construction will continue under the Roads Authority’s 2022-2027 Strategic Business Plan, despite his term ending soon.
Road Authority Regional Engineering Manager Kennedy Chigumira stated that after a disappointing performance by the previous contractor, the roads authority has roped in the services of the China Henan International Cooperation Group (CHICO) on an urgent basis, who he says the authority has confidence in that the work will be done properly and on time.
“The painful thing about the previous contractor was that it was done and awarded with a sense of empowering local contractors, but sometimes they do not perform, and one can confirm, you have seen what happened, it was like a circus,” said Chigumira.
The Chief Regional Officer of the Kavango West Regional Council, Matheus Singambwe on his part emphasised the need for such projects to benefit locals in terms of employment creation, saying that the region is poor and has a high unemployment rate because those entrusted with such projects exclude local people, as companies come to the region with workers from outside.
Singambwe also called on improved relations between Roads Authority and the Council saying the two entities cannot be seen to work in isolation if projects in the region are to be delivered.
“We expect to improve our relations and demand that this relationship be enhanced, and there should be proper communication,” he stated.
(NAMPA)
JLN/EK/HP