Construction work on the last stretch of the Windhoek-Okahandja road will commence soon after the government made a full payment to the contractors.

Budgetary constraints resulting in the non-payment of contractors have led to a delay in the construction of the highway from a dual carriageway to a four-lane freeway, which was expected to be completed in July 2020.

According to the founder of Otesa Civil Engineering, Elmo Kaiyamo, work will resume early this month after the government paid the contractors. He, however, could not divulge more on how much the government has paid them.

“Yesterday I spoke to my colleagues, they said we have been paid in full by the government, so we will fully resume with work,” he told this agency last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that took place in Davos, Switzerland.

He said although much of the work was suspended, they have not lost a lot of time, but have a lot to catch up on.

“I think we are right on course to finish this project by the end of next year as most of the main activities on the project have been completed,” he assured.

He also indicated that they will start opening some of the sections of the road in October this year.

The construction of the road started in January 2016, and section one of the project, spanning 27.6 kilometres, was completed in January 2020 at a cost of N$1 billion, fully funded by the Namibian government.

However, the last stretch of 21 kilometres envisaged to be completed in July 2020, costing about N$900 million, has come to a halt.

The companies in charge of the construction are Otesa Civil Engineering, a local company, and the international company Cooperativa Muratori Cementisti Ravenna.

In an interview with Nampa earlier, Roads Authority chief executive officer Conrad Lutombi said the delay in the construction work has caused implications of spending more than what was budgeted for, but could not confirm how much it was.

“We have discussed these implications with the government, which is why the budget for 2022/23 for that road has been much improved, and we are working very hard to make sure the contractors resume work as soon as possible without further delays,” Lutombi added.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency