Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Ohangwena Regional Council is planning to demolish and reconstruct Eenhana’s constituency office building, which has been condemned due to poor workmanship.
The building’s contractor, Pasinami Construction CC, is allegedly nowhere to be found. The constituency councillor and staff members have been operating from a small office at the Onambutu community hall since 2016.
Ohangwena Regional Council spokesperson Silas Nepembe yesterday said the constituency office at Onambutu village was constructed at a cost of N$1,4 million. Building started on 13 May 2008 and was completed on 30 January 2009.
“After completion and during the 12-month retention period, no defects were detected in the office structure. In 2013, a diagonal crack was detected in the floor of the building. The constituency staff notified the regional council office, which further notified the consulting team.
“A joint site visit was carried out on 12 April 2013, and the contractor was ordered and expected to repair the cracks after the retention period,” Nepembe said.
He said the same crack and several others were detected in the building’s floor again in 2015, after which the consulting team revisited the site. “The soil on which the building was built was not firm, and thus there were foundation movements, causing the building to crack.
“The cracks further spread to the walls of the superstructure, making occupation of the building life-threatening. This situation was also communicated to the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development for intervention.
“At the beginning of 2016, the situation grew more serious, and the council was advised by the consulting team to find alternative office space for the councillor and staff to avoid loss of life and property.
“The building was no longer structurally repairable, according to the experts,” he said. The regional council has since moved to the village’s community hall.
Nepembe confirmed that the constituency office is no longer habitable, the building is not repairable, and that staff members are operating from a smaller office which is not suitable for the council.
He said the regional council plans to make budgetary provisions to reconstruct the Eenhana constituency office to enable government services to be decentralised to the masses.
The cracked constituency office will soon be demolished, as it no longer serves any purpose, he said. Ohangwena governor Walde Ndevashiya said he could not comment on the matter as his office was briefed on the findings of a report only recently.
Several attempts to get comment from Eenhana constituency councillor Olivia Hanghuwo were not successful. Pasinami Construction CC could not be traced for comment.
For More News And Analysis About Namibia Follow Africa-Press
