Africa-Press – Namibia. FOR years Katima Mulilo has been challenged by poor road infrastructure, a situation made worse by the rainy season and the council’s failure to maintain the town’s roads.
Now, taxi operators at the town have become picky about the areas they work in, because of huge potholes on many roads. The Namibian spoke to some taxi drivers who say they prefer not to accomodate passengers going to areas such as Cowboy, Choto, Build Together, Butterfly, New Look, New NHE and Shackdwellers, due to concerns for their vehicles which often get damaged while driving on dilapidated feeder and access roads.
“Each street around town, whether tarred or gravel, has potholes and as a result we keep on fixing our cars every month. It’s not only a challenge which we face during the rainy season but throughout the year. We are not willing to risk our cars by loading passengers staying in certain locations as the roads are very poor. Personally, I just prefer to transport passengers around town and New NHE because I live there,” said Jerome Simasiku.
Taxi operator Steven Samulandela says the roads in Shackdwellers are in such a poor state that he was forced to turn back on Saturday. “I simply could not risk my car being damaged by entering that location. The town council has really failed us when it comes to our roads. Even people with big cars are now starting to complain, now imagine us with the small cars.”
Taxi operator Josephat Simataa says the only access roads in good condition are Choto and Mafuta, as they were recently tarred. “We are no longer driving on the designated roads but instead on the pedestrian pavements. The potholes are now so wide and deep that you can get stuck in them. I cannot even talk about Lifasi Street in town because it’s badly damaged. We are really suffering.”
A resident of the Choto area, Mulijani Simasiku, told The Namibian that their roads and yards are flooded due to the heavy rains over the weekend, making their houses inaccessible. He attributed their current dilemma to poor planning on the part of the council.
“The council is failing to construct a proper drainage system to ensure that we are not flooded during the rainy season. They also don’t conduct maintenance regularly on the roads, especially gravel roads.”
The Katima Mulilo Town Council CEO, Raphael Liswaniso, said he was unable to provide comment when contacted because he was busy with other professional engagements.
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