The construction of Impalila Island Road is progressing well, despite the challenges of the rain received during January and early this month.
Minister of Works and Transport, John Mutorwa, and Roads Authority CEO, Conrad Lutombi, inspected the roads on Friday.
The Minister of Works and Transport visited Impalila Island to get first-hand information on the road's construction and expressed satisfaction with the progress.
Mutorwa emphasized that Impalila Island has the potential to contribute to the economic development of the country and increase trade with other countries around the world.
The minister stressed that road infrastructure is key to any nation's development.
"It's the road first, and development follows the road. Some people, including some economists, have it wrong; they will tell you that we cannot put up a road there because there are no people and there are no vehicles. But put up the road, and I can guarantee you other things will follow. So there are many people who live and work here; there are government infrastructures; there are also private infrastructures; we are seated in this lodge here; so the island has the potential to be fully developed and to be connected to the main area of the country."
Mutorwa stated that the government will continue to bring development to all parts of the country so that all Namibians can benefit.
He further noted that the Impalila Airstrip will be given attention to facilitate the smooth movement of people and services.
"We visited the airstrip, which is overgrown with grass and bushes, but it is a project that requires our attention, and we will definitely give it our attention so that the connections of the people within Katima Mulilo and other parts of Namibia and other parts of SADC by air should also be made possible, and by so doing people will easily access the island and development will be accelerated."
Roads Authority Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Lutombi, observed that the road is on course and the parastatal will ensure that Namibian roads are up to standard.
"This project basically is not a gravel road, but we will upgrade it to a low volume seal, and the reason for that is that it will be quite expensive for us to put up a grader here every time from Katima, that's why we are upgrading it to a low volume seal so that it becomes more cost-effective in terms of maintenance. Our intention is to use that badge to hold materials from Impalila to Kasika so that we can use that material as we are constructing that section between Kasika and Nakabolelwa, particularly when it comes to the drainage structure, so, in a nutshell, we are very happy with the progress so far."
The Project Manager for Nexus Group, Werner van Zyl, promised to deliver nothing but quality.
"The port on Imaplila's side is still busy with the design; they have to get the correct design, but it's going to get constructed, so for now it's only there for operational purposes to make sure that the badge can operate to ferry the trucks in and through Botswana, and the reason why we don't do the first is that it is about a kilometer from the port up until the first bridge; we are going to leave that part, and that will be the last place we will work .on. The reason for that is that we have a lot of trucks that have to bring in materials, a lot of vehicles that have to come in from Botswana or from Ngoma, and if we have to construct that first, we would have too much traffic on it, so we actually make too much damage to the road before the work is completed," explains the contractor.
The Impalila Project so far employs 136 people, excluding managerial staff.