Katima mulilo: Plans to relocate the Katima Mulilo Weighbridge to alleviate truck congestion in the main areas of the town and to enable 24-hour operations suffered a major setback earlier this week after the Minister of Works and Transport, Veikko Nekundi, disapproved the newly proposed site.
According to Namibia Press Agency, the proposed site is located in the Liselo area, approximately 11 kilometres from the main town centre, and falls under the jurisdiction of the Mafwe Traditional Authority. Nekundi disapproved the site during a visit after observing that it had been flooded, stating that the area is a low-lying basin and that establishing infrastructure there would be costly.
'From an engineering perspective it's a no for me. You know our needs better than the traditional authority as mandated. You must check and identify another suitable area not in the flood plains like this one, otherwise it will be very costly for us,' Nekundi said. He instructed the Roads Authority Regional Manager, Lynnette Malipa, who was accompanied by the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Mbahupu Tjivikua, and other senior managers at the site, to identify an alternative location for the envisaged capital project.
The minister mentioned that there are a variety of suitable sites along the B8 main road that engineers can assess in terms of their suitability and alignment with road infrastructure designs. He emphasized that the establishment of the one-stop border post, the bypass, and weighbridge operations are key priority areas that the President wants delivered by her Cabinet.
Tjivikua promised to thoroughly engage his technical teams and the board, particularly on the moratorium regarding the current operation of the existing weighbridge, which has not been operating simultaneously on a 24-hour basis with the Wenela border post. The government, through Cabinet directives, aims to relocate the current weighbridge to avoid congestion in town areas and to ensure better, more efficient checking procedures closer to the border.