Major freight road to be upgraded

A Namibian government project to improve one of the country's main transport routes received a boost on Thursday with a US $54 million loan from Germany.

The rehabilitation of the 61 km road from Ondangwa to Oshikango was expected to improve the transportation of goods, services and people in the area and enhance trade between Namibia and Angola.

Roads Authority Chief Executive Justin Runji said the surface of the road had been badly damaged in the more than 10 years since it was built.

The project would involve the breaking up of the old road surface and the laying of a new asphalt-concrete layer which was expected to last at least 15 years, Runji said.

"It is hoped that in the long run increased economic activities will lead to improved standards of living for our people, especially in the north. Some areas which are not serviced properly will now be reachable over a shorter period of time," acting permanent secretary of the National Planning Commission, Master Kiiyala, told IRIN.

The northern-central areas of Namibia, along the border with Angola, are made up of the four most heavily populated regions of the country, home to about half of Namibia's 1.8 million people. The development of this area has been seen as crucial to the development of the entire country.

The Ondangwa-Oshikango road has also been the major link with Angola and vital to trade between the two countries.

Said Kiiyala: "Much has changed since the end of the war in Angola and there are a lot of opportunities which exist because of this. If we are to benefit from these opportunities we must ensure that our infrastructure is top rate."

Meanwhile, Angola's central Benguela province government has disbursed US $600,000 for the rehabilitation of a road linking districts of Benguela and Catengue.

Aid agencies have in recent weeks called on the government to make emergency repairs to the transport infrastructure which was destroyed by almost three decades of civil war. They said the onset of the rainy season would make access to remote areas even more difficult.