The tarring of the Uis-Henties Bay Road is 52% complete, despite several delays.
The Roads Authority's (RA) Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Lutombi, says the project was supposed to be completed this year but was underfunded.
The 96-kilometre Uis-Henties Bay road is part of the government's vision to strengthen Namibia's western corridor.
Thus far, the government has spent N$700 million on the estimated one-billion-dollar project.
The intention is to link the Walvis Bay harbour to the southern part of Angola through the Trans-Kunene corridor.
"So we are remaining with 300 or 350 million, and that is for the remaining works once we are done with this financial year, but not to delay the project; we will approach the government during the mid-term review to see if there is a little money left somewhere that can be diverted to this project, so we keep the pace of the work as it is now," said Lutombi.
Ali Ipinge, the CEO of the Road Fund Administration (RFA), had this to say: "We need to ensure that we budget appropriately on a yearly basis across all the projects, that a sufficient budget is made, and that contractors are paid on time so that the work can be completed within agreed timelines. So that's all we can plead with our stakeholders and shareholders in this case: the government, the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises, and certainly the Ministry of Works and Transport."
The Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, who visited the project, indicated that two contractors were supposed to upgrade the road from Henties Bay to Kamanjab concurrently, but due to a lack of funds, that was not possible.
"Money will never be enough, but what I want to emphasise here is that we have a budget each and every financial year, meaning we do not have the necessary funds. For example, in the 2024–2025 financial year already, those planning the budget for next year must put something there so that there is not a big gap between completing this phase and the construction of the next phase. So I want to urge both the ministry officials, Road Authority officials, finance officials, and the National Planning Commission. Sometimes, it will be good for those officials to come on-site so that when a submission is submitted to them, emphasising the point of construction of the phases, they have a visual and practical appreciation of that."
Mutorwa says once the project is completed, trucks will be diverted to relieve the congestion experienced on the B2 road towards Walvis Bay harbour.
The Roads Contractor Company (RCC), with Chinese-owned Zhong Mei as a subcontractor, are the entities that won the tender.