RUNDU – The multi-million road between Tsumeb and Katwitwi is complete and now merely awaits its inauguration by President Hifikepunye Pohamba next month. The 267-kilometre road was constructed in three sections at a cost of over N$910 million.
During a Swapo gathering in Rundu over the weekend, the party’s Secretary General Nangolo Mbumba announced that Pohamba would officially open the road for the public on December 13 or 14.
“The president has decided that come December he will be in this region, I do not know who will be in his delegation, but he expects us to attend the event. He will be in Mpungu (some 160 kilometres west of Rundu) to open the Tsumeb-Katwitwi road. The road is now tarred, hence people living in Nkurenkuru do not have to come to Rundu in order to go to Windhoek anymore,” said Mbumba.
When New Era visited the project last month, construction workers were applying markings on the road and other final touches. Speaking to this reporter yesterday, Mpungu Constituency Councillor, Esra Kakukuru, praised government for a job well done.
“The road is completed and it is in a good condition. The people living in villages along the road are happy because most of them were employed for this project,” said Kakukuru.
The final section of the Tsumeb and Katwitwi road was built at a cost of N$275 million.
The contractor for the third section was the Roads Contractor Company (RCC) and China Henan International Cooperation Group (Chico).
Construction on the first phase from Tsumeb to Tsintsabis started in February 2009.
The road construction project created over 300 temporary jobs and locals residing in villages along the road benefitted most.
The road is also expected to boost trade between Angola and Namibia as traders making use of the Katwitwi border post will now make use of the road to access their markets in the two countries.
By Mathias Haufiku