ONGWEDIVA – Work to complete the Oshakati train station has been extended to September this year.

Timoteus Negonga, the resident engineer under Windhoek Consulting Engineers (WCE), said work on the railway station has been revised and postponed because it has gone beyond the agreed completion date, which was July 2023. 

The delay was attributed to floods and insufficient resources.

“According to the contractors’ (Tatiana Trading and JV Ongushe Investment) programme, they anticipate finishing by the end of September,” added Negonga.

It was reported seven years ago that the 28-kilometre railway line will cost government at least N$245 million. The amount excluded the N$40 million construction cost for the bridge and the station in question.

“There are currently 58 workers on site, making sure the mechanical work is completed. We are confident that quality has not been compromised and is being upheld by the contractor,” said Negonga.

However, deputy chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee on economics and public administration, Matias Mbundu, thinks work might go beyond September.

“The people who are busy at the site have been given 30 September as a due date. But unfortunately, that will not be possible unless they put in extra force. They are already in the red, and have been given penalties for the delayed work,” he stated.

Mbundu and his fellow committee members recently visited the Oshakati railway station to observe the progress of its construction. Their trip to the Oshana region was part of oversight visits on the management of rail transport, railway services, facilities and infrastructure.