By:Hertha Ekandjo
Minister of Works and Transport John Mutorwa on Monday officiated the commencement of the upgrading to low volume seal standards of District Road 3633 between Tsandi and Omugulugwombashe.
The upgrading of the road, at the cost of about N$35 million, is financed by the government via the Road Fund Administration (RFA).
The DR3633 links Tsandi to the OmuguluGwombashe settlement in the Omusati region.
DR3633 starts at the T-junction intersection with main road 123 which links Outapi to Okahao and ends at the OmuguluGwombashe Memorial of Heroes.
During the occasion, Minister Mutorwa said the present state of the road is gravel standard and the objective of the project is to upgradeto an all-weather two-lane single carriageway low volume bitumen standard.
The upgrading of the road will serve the purpose to improve local rural and regional accessibility, reduction of road user costs, reduction of travel times and also for the reduction of maintenance costs and frequency.
The low volume seal upgrade is intended to follow the existing alignment as far as possible to limit the impact on the environment and minimise project expenditure. This road has a total length of 22 kilometres.
The project will start with phase 1 which is 12 kilometres. Phase 2 will cover the remaining kilometres after phase 1 is completed.
The Minister said Kambwa Construction (Pty) Ltd, a well-established wholly owned Namibian contractor, has been appointed on this project.
“Two additional sub-contractors, namely Colas Namibia and Luka Roads and Rail, also form part of the project and will carry out surfacing and seal works. Some activities are also reserved for SME’s,”he added.
Mutorwa emphasised that approximately 40 men and women from surrounding areas will be employed on this project, with the aim to leave substantial revenue within the community of Omusati region which will contribute towards alleviating poverty and unemployment.
The project will be supervised by DAT Joint Venture and the overall project management will be done by the Roads Authority.