KEETMANSHOOP – The //Kharas Regional Council still needs an additional N$ 17 million to complete its office park at Keetmanshoop.
The construction of the four-storey complex, which commenced in 2016 is 95% complete, and is expected to cost the council close to N$171 million.
The tender was awarded to st ate-owned Augus t 26 UBM Cons t ruct i on . To date, N$134 million has been utilised, and for the financial year 2023/2024, N$20 million was allocated to the project.
Speaking at the ||Kharas Re g i onal De ve l opme nt Coordination Committee meeting on Wednesday, the regional council’s acting Director of Planning and Development Services Megameno Shikongo said the project continues to receive insufficient budget allocations, and this hinders its completion.
“By next year, if the money is available, we should be able to finish the project. As you can see, most of our projects receive insufficient funds. We really need to take it up with the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to allocate the necessary funds to develop the region,” he stressed.
Shikongo also revealed that the Karasburg West Constituency office needs N$20 million to see its completion. Construction started in 2015, and was supposed to cost Government N$14 million. The project is said to be 87% complete. Oranjemund Constituency councillor Lazarus Nangolo said: “We need to figure out why there are these delays. Whose fault is it? Is it Central Government, the regional council or the administrators who are to be blamed? We need to implement projects in a timely manner”.
Nangolo said when projects are delayed, factors such as inflation rates and others cause such to be costly.
He advised that the Acting Chief Regi onal Off i c e r (Benedictus Diergaardt) and the council’s development department identify projects which are nearing completion in the region, and engage the relevant line ministries so that such projects are completed.
!Nami#Nus Constituency councillor Susan Ndjaleka questioned why the regional council could not call for expressions of interest from the private sector to ensure that the necessary funds are acquired to complete the projects.
“Incomplete projects do not give a good picture. If government does not have enough money, the private sector can put in the rest of what is needed in terms of grants or so. In that way, they are assisting the government to deliver services to the inhabitants,” said Ndjaleka.
– Nampa