2018-06-04Staff Report 2 Nuusita Ashipala OTAMANZI - After decades of being cut off from the rest of the country during the rain season, the Otamanzi Constituency on Thursday saw the commissioning of its first gravel road. The gravel road will give Otamanzi residents access to and from their villages during the wet seasons. The 36.6 km stretch of a gravel district road (DR) 3681 connects Epato village through Otamanzi to Onaushe settlement in the Omusati Region. The Deputy Minister of Works and Transport James Sankwasa commissioned Epato-Onaushe road. The gravel was constructed at a cost of N$63.3 million dollars over a period of 24 months. The road was constructed jointly by the Namibian government and the German Development Bank KFW. The road is also said to have created employment for 1 567 locals, which resulted in an income of N$6.1 million altogether. In an earlier interview with New Era two years ago, the councillor of Otamanzi Constituency Johannes Iyambo related that the constituency only have two roads leading to it from the Oshakati-Ruacana road which usually becomes inaccessible when the constituency receives heavy rain. The same sentiments were echoed by minister sankwasa who said the new road will provide the much-needed access to the people of Epato, Otamanzi and Onaushe. “People living along this road will no longer have to navigate through narrow, self-made track roads and cross raging waters of the welcome but dangerous water filled swamps,” said Sankwasa. Sankwasa said the construction of the Epato-Onaushe road demonstrates that Namibia is geared towards socio-economic development in line with its developmental plans. He said a functional and efficient transport logistic sector is the backbone of the NDPS targets in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, fisheries, rural and urban development and the tourism sector. “It is a powerful instrument for socio-economic transformation for our villages as it improves communication and trade between our people. For that reason, the importance of providing rural roads can hardly be underestimated in the context of our economic and social goals,” said Sankwasa. He appealed to the users to refrain from reckless driving and damaging road signs. 2018-06-04Staff Report 2
