RUNDU - The Rundu Town Council has awarded a tender for the tarring of the road from the Vleiskor Butchery at the town to the Rudolph Ngondo Primary School to the company John Paul Santos (JPS) Investment.

The tender will also include the upgrading of 34 other gravel roads to bitumen standards by the same construction company, which is based at Rundu. Rundu mayor Hilka Levi last Friday officiated at a groundbreaking ceremony for the tarring of the 1.3 kilometre road to the school, which will cost about N$11.3 million.

Luis Nelson, who spoke on behalf of JPS Investment, told Nampa on Thursday that they expect to commence with construction within two weeks, adding that the project will take about six months to complete. The funding for the upgrading of the road forms part of the more than N$20 million allocated to the Rundu Town Council as part of the Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth (TIPEEG).

The N$20 million will also cover the extension of water services and the upgrading of the sewerage systems around the town, including at informal settlements on the outskirts of the town. Rundu Town Council Management Committee chairperson Johannes Murenga told this agency earlier that the other 34 roads are situated in the Kehemu, Ndama, Sauyemwa and Kasote informal settlements on the outskirts of Rundu.

A N$3.5 million tender for sewerage reticulation for the town’s trade fair centre and surrounding areas was also awarded to 2M Civil Engineering Company. In May this year, the Rundu Town Council inaugurated another road that was upgraded from gravel to bitumen at a cost of N$4.7 million through TIPEEG.

The upgrading of Maria Mwengere Street, one of the busiest roads in Rundu, came as a relief for most motorists at the town who blamed the state of the road for the damage to their vehicles.  Some residents also complained that the gravel road posed a health risk to residents. Maria Mwengere Street links up with Independence Avenue in the centre of the town.

The manager of Otja Trading Enterprise, which was awarded the tender for the tarring of Maria Mwengere Street, Andreas Romanus, said the project created about 51 jobs for local people. About N$800 million has been allocated to the entire Kavango Region under TIPEEG. - Nampa