The Chief Executive Officer of the Rundu Town Council, Olavi Nathanael, said it is challenge to rehabilitate the potholed Sam Nujoma Drive from Sauyemwa to the Safari residential area, due to a certain group that is claiming town council’s borrow pit to be theirs.

A statement issued by Nathanael on Wednesday said the town council in 2014 established a borrow pit north of the Kaisosi informal settlement, alongside the Vhungu Vhungu road to extract gravel material for construction and maintenance of roads in Rundu.

He said in 2016 a group called Kavagara Agricultural Project allegedly invaded the land for field crop purposes, claiming it as ancestral land.

“In 2020 contractors that were appointed to maintain our roads were chased out from this borrow pit by members of this group,” Nathanael said.

The CEO said council reported the issue to the political leadership in the region but to date, no solution has been found.

He said the town’s mayor, Gabriel Kanyanga, also held a meeting with the said group in December last year but the meeting came to a deadlock.

“The appointed contractor, Namibia Investment Contacts, cannot go ahead with the maintenance of this road without the borrow pit materials for traveling purposes. This is complete sabotage to the development of the town and is delaying implementation of the allocated funds,” he said.

Nathanael said if this issue is not resolved soon, council will have trouble with road-related maintenance and upgrades.

Approached for comment, the secretary of the Kavagara Agricultural Project, Michael Liyando, said in 2020 they concluded an agreement with WAG Construction and sold that piece of land for an undisclosed amount.

Last week Minister of Works and Transport John Mutorwa, who was inspecting the road, expressed dissatisfaction with the condition of the road and called on the town council to expedite the rehabilitation process, saying the blame always comes to government from members of the public.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency