This year’s exceptional rainy season experienced in most parts of Namibia has been a blessing for farmers, but also caused severe damage to many national and urban roads. 

The Roads Authority (RA) will need approximately N$400 million to repair these damaged roads after weeks of continuous heavy rains across the country. 

RA spokesperson Hileni Fillemon yesterday told New Era that all the damaged roads in the country are a priority, as the authority wants to ensure access for all road users. Repair work has commenced, and some repairs have been completed. 

“The road network is still intact. However, a few roads were heavily damaged in the Kunene, Hardap, Oshana, Ohangwena, Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi regions, including the collapsed bridge on the Windhoek-Rehoboth Road,” Fillemon stated. 

The RA is mandated to manage Namibia’s national road network in terms of designing, constructing, rehabilitation and maintaining the infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the City of Windhoek (CoW)  says a preliminary assessment determined it will require about N$226 million to repair severely-damaged roads in the capital. 

However, city spokesperson Lydia Amutenya was reported as stating this amount could escalate to N$324 million when taking into account the necessary full-scale road resurfacing and drainage upgrades. 

In addition, the city’s pothole repair programme is expected to cost more than N$15 million, while gravel road repairs will need an estimated N$38 million. 

Another N$2 million is expected to be allocated to fixing bridges and culverts, as well as addressing flooded spatial areas. 

Amutenya said the cost of fixing damaged roads is more than what the city has budgeted for repairs. This means the CoW will have to secure additional or external funding for an effective road rehabilitation programme.

Photo: Heather Erdmann