WINDHOEK – The Roads Authority (RA) has blamed excessive speed and a total disregard for road and safety signs as the main causes of accidents along the construction areas of the upgrading of the road between Windhoek and Okahandja. Thus far, since the project commenced earlier this year, at least four major accidents have occurred along the road.
“It is a case of excessive speeding and ignoring road signs. We request drivers to adhere to the road signs and traffic rules, particularly during the busy construction period,” said Road Authority Chief Executive Officer, Conrad Lutombi, during an exclusive interview with Woema.
“We are happy with safety measures which the contractor has put on the roads. But we are requesting the contractor to add more safety and speed signs. However, the problem is not the visibility but the drivers traveling at high speeds because of congestion and sometimes they knock down the road signs. We have however approached the contractor to increase the number of signs,” explained Lutombi.
Speaking to Woema on condition of anonymity, one of the safety officers on the construction site said drivers were becoming a hazard on the road to contractors. “These drivers do not want to adhere to the signs on the road. We use user-friendly road signs and we employ measures such as watering the ground at busy areas to minimize the dust,” noted the safety officer.
For now, 113 people are working on the upgrading project, of which 112 are Namibian and out of that amount 89 are male. The Namibians working on the project are mostly comprised of operators, artisans, drivers, laboratory and surveyor assistants. “We expect that once construction has reached its peak we will have some 260 people working on the project,” noted Lutombi.
Lutombi continued that overall the project between Windhoek and Okahandja is going well and the Road Authority expects the first phase of the project to be completed by August next year. Thereafter the Road Authority will commence with the next phase of the upgrading of the road which will turn the entire stretch of road between the capital and its closest northern neighbour into a dual carriageway. The total cost of N$2.6 billion will enable motorists to travel much more safely and is expected to significantly reduce the number of accidents on the usually busy road.
Namibia’s road network is funded through Parliamentary appropriation, through the Road User charging system, including the fuel levy, as well as through loans and grants. The Road Fund Administration collects the Road User Charges which is then channeled to the Roads Authority for the maintenance and construction of roads in the country.
By Edgar Brandt