STAFF
Independent Patriots for Change have asked minister of works and transport Veikko Nekundi to explain the government’s plan to build two pedestrian bridges along Windhoek’s Western Bypass at a high estimated cost of N$70 million.
Each bridge is expected to cost N$35 million – a figure IPC member of parliament and shadow minister of work , Nelson Kalangu said is questionable.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday Kalangula said Nekundi should provide a thorough breakdown of the expenditure.
Kalanhula said the decision by the government to construct pedestrian bridges come after the controversial installation of speed humps on the same high-speed trunk road.
“The speed humps cost taxpayers over N$700,000, triggered severe traffic congestion, and provoked widespread public backlash. The public perception is that the chaos caused by the speed humps was a manufactured crisis designed to force acceptance of bloated infrastructural tenders,” he said.
Klangula wants Nekundi to provide a detailed, itemised breakdown of the N$35 million per-bridge cost estimate, specifying expenditures allocated for materials (steel/concrete), labor, environmental assessments, consulting or engineering fees, as well as the design.
“How does the Ministry justify N$35 million for a single pedestrian overpass when compared against the historical or actual construction costs of comparable existing infrastructure, such as
the bridge with sidewalks near China Town? What mechanisms are being put in place to ensure that these N$70 million tenders will not fall victim to continuous cost overruns,
delays, and variation orders typical of major state infrastructure projects?, “ he said in parliament
He said : “Given constrained national fiscal space and pressing developmental challenges such as rural road maintenance backlogs, medicine shortages, housing backlog and educational
infrastructure, how does the Ministry rank the N$70 million bridges as a national priority?”
COMMENTS