Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) of the Road Fund Administration (RFA), Ali Ipinge said no pothole had been fixed on the Rundu urban roads since January, despite the contributory support fund RFA gives to the Rundu Town Council to maintain roads in the town.

Ipinge said this during the commissioning of the construction of the second phase of the Sam Nujoma road in Rundu on Friday.

“Roads are key economic and social progression enablers and our drive as an institution is to make sure that we create value to the road users wherever they are,” he said.

RFA provides support to over 57 local authorities in the country and 14 regional councils countrywide to maintain rural roads, he explained.

“I have been in Rundu since Wednesday and had the privilege to drive on some of the bitumen and gravel roads and sadly from January to now, there has been no improvement on the roads except on the first phase of the Sam Nujoma road which was completed recently,” the CEO said.

He said on the normal programme allocation the RFA provides to the RTC to maintain their roads, there has been no improvement on the roads despite the fact that a contractor and a consulting engineer had been appointed.

“I almost went into depression after driving the road with the RTC CEO and there is no visible improvement on the road,” Ipinge said.

He said he does not understand how not even a single pothole was fixed since January if a contractor was appointed for four months and received funds through the RFA.

“We have, as an organisation, duty towards the road user that contributes towards the road fund to make sure they get value for their money,” he said.

The RFA CEO said it cannot be business as usual and they will have a one-on-one discussion with the management of the Rundu Town Council in the coming week to look at changing how they do business.

On his part, Kavango East Region Governor Bony Wakudumo had a message to the technocrats who according to him do not want politicians to intervene in the development of the region.

“I want to assure you that for as long as I am the governor of this region, I will make sure that you do your work correctly. As the regional head it is my duty regardless of what positions you (technocrats) hold to make sure you comply with what needs to be done,” he warned.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency