Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Walvis Bay municipality is faced with an uphill battle in maintaining its roads as heavy-weight traffic from across central and southern Africa to the harbour increases.
The municipality is lobbying the Road Fund Administration (RFA) to nationalise some of the town’s roads and to increase its annual contribution to the municipality’s capital allocation for road upkeep and development.
As the town’s harbour is fast becoming a key port for the Southern African Development Community hinterland, the high volume of international traffic, including heavy lorries transporting goods, is taking its toll on the town’s roads.
Despite this, Walvis Bay rate payers are expected to contribute millions to maintaining or rehabilitating the rapidly deteriorating roads.
Acting Walvis Bay chief executive officer (CEO) John Esterhuizen says he has taken the issue up with the RFA, but the administration’s jurisdiction stops just before the town, covering only national roads.
“This is nice for them because these roads can carry all those tonnages. But the roads in town to the port are not designed for those axel-loads.
“So it would just make sense that those roads that go into and out of the port should be recognised as national roads,” Esterhuizen says.
The town set a capital budget of N$19,9 million for 2022/23 for road maintenance and rehabilitation, split between the municipal portion and the RFA portion.
The first priority was to rehabilitate intersections, with N$5 million already spent, and another N$3,4 million earmarked to be spent in the next five months.
Routine maintenance is also being carried out, with N$3 million spent on pothole repairs, and N$1,4 million spent on periodic maintenance since July 2022.
The RFA’s allocation for 2022/23 was N$6,7 million, with 86% of that already being claimed, and the full allocation to be claimed before the end of March.
More than 60 road sections, totalling about 50km, have been identified for rehabilitation, targeting the roads directly servicing the port and fishing companies, as well as dilapidated sections in the central business district and industrial and residential areas.
Deputy Walvis Bay mayor Saara Mutondoka says the RFA has indicated that its contribution to the town’s road maintenance would increase by N$30 million a year.
“As per the public outcry that the roads infrastructure is in a horrible state, such an increase is important,” she says.
“This increase by the RFA will help us to at least increase the intensity of the work on the roads, and target especially the major roads that are used.”
The RFA’s executive for programme management, policy and advice, Namene Kalili, says during their meeting with the Walvis Bay municipal council last year, he was “shocked” at the extent of the damage to the port roads.
“Walvis Bay municipality’s concerns and assessment were fully justified in that the damage was being caused by heavy vehicles that did not contribute to the coffers of the municipality.
“Therefore, as a recipient of mass distance charges paid by these vehicles, the RFA accepted responsibility to rehabilitate the port roads,” she says, adding that the administrator has budgeted N$248 million to rehabilitate these roads in the next five years.
Starting on 1 April, a budget allocation of N$32 million will be available to the municipality to begin procurement processes for the new pavement structure, and to appoint a contractor.
A further N$32 million is budgeted for the following fiscal year, with allocations increasing to N$83 million in 2025.
Kalili says the RFA will investigate amendments to its funding allocation models to ensure that towns along transport corridors receive adequate road maintenance funding.
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