The government has announced urgent measures to restore road infrastructure following severe damage caused by recent heavy rains.
A bridge on the B1 road between Windhoek and Rehoboth suffered extensive damage, which prompted emergency interventions from the Roads Authority.
On Monday morning, newly appointed Works and Transport Minister Veikko Nekundi visited the damaged bridge to assess the situation first-hand.
He disclosed that the reconstruction process will take approximately seven months, and he confirmed that he will issue a directive for emergency procurement.
"As you can see, the Roads Authority has deployed a team on an emergency basis; the contractor doing the work, as we are entering Windhoek, that company was deployed because it was the nearest. It is an emergency, and they have restored a kind of a passage to allow the traffic to flow. We are now busy putting up the second passage to allow a free flow; technocrats have now been deployed to redesign the bridge and also for us to restore the road functions."
Roads Authority's Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Lutombi, echoed concerns about widespread road damage across the country, particularly affecting gravel roads that have been washed away due to last week's torrential rains.
To restore connectivity between Windhoek and Rehoboth, the RA has constructed a temporary bypass, while a dual permanent bypass is expected to be completed within three weeks.
The cost of the temporary bypass, Lutombi adds, could go up to N$10 million.
"We are very concerned. These heavy rains, to be very honest, have affected our road infrastructure countrywide, but mostly in the |Khomas, as well as Erongo and Kunene. In our region, we have Midgard – Airport Road, which is currently closed. We have extensive wash-away on that road; therefore, we urge people to use the Okahandja road, and we also have a number of gravel roads that are washed away in the Erongo. Rain also affected some roads in the northern part of the country, but we are happy to say that on the national roads, the impact is very minimal in terms of national service roads."
Lutombi also confirmed that the design process for the new bridge is already underway, with full reconstruction estimated to take up to seven months.
The damage to the bridge was caused by heavy rainfall and flooding last week, which overwhelmed the structure and led to its collapse.