In collaboration with the Roads Authority, the Chinese embassy and the Chinese Project Management Enterprise awarded the Chinese company Zhong Mei Engineering Group a N$1 billion road project. The road project is the Windhoek to Hosea Kutako International Airport road project.
According to Conrad Lutombi, the Roads Authority (RA) head, a Chinese grant will pay this portion of the construction project.
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At the transfer ceremony, Lutombi noted that the government would be responsible for the leasing and maintenance of the site camps.
According to him, Zhong Mei was picked following a successful procurement procedure overseen by the Chinese embassy and the Chinese Project Management Enterprise (CPME), which was conducted in cooperation with the RA.
A dual-carriage motorway, three interchanges at Dordabis, Sonnleiten, and the airport, and two river bridges and drainage infrastructure are all anticipated to be built by Zhong Mei.
The N$1 billion Windhoek to Hosea Kutako International Airport road project will last 36 months, and N$120 million will be spent on Namibian contractors and small and medium-sized businesses, resulting in about 270 employment for Namibians.
VKE Namibia is the consultant on this project, which will be overseen by the RA, according to Lutombi.
Improvement of Traffic Flow in Windhoek
It is planned to improve traffic flow between Windhoek and Hosea Kutako International Airport and increase safety along congested sections of the route, which is also part of the crucial Walvis Bay corridor.
The government-funded phase one of the projects is 98% complete and spans about 10 kilometers, beginning at the Sam Nujoma Interchange (on the existing Western bypass), continuing east past the University of Namibia, the Auas Interchange, and the Robert Mugabe Interchange on the eastern side, and ending near the Auasblick old age home.
Phase 2A is also underway, with the whole process being at 44% complete. This portion of the road extends eastward from the Auasblick old age home to the Dordabis Interchange, spanning a total distance of 19,5 kilometers.
The dual carriageway, once finished, will boost the economy by facilitating faster and more diverse transportation between Windhoek and the rest of Namibia. It will also strengthen ties with the future SADC Gateway Port at Walvis Bay. The government would continue to construct and sustain trade-friendly corridor development routes through the RA.
The Harambee Prosperity Plan 2 includes the Windhoek-Hosea Kutako International Airport road project, which is connected with the fifth National Development Plan.
Zhong Mei was awarded a contract to build the second section of the Windhoek-to-Hosea Kutako International Airport route for N$1.2 billion two years ago, according to The Namibian.
The RA awarded Zhong Mei a N$755 million contract for building the Swakopmund-Henties Bay-Uis route in 2016.
A leaked document from August of this year revealed that a Chinese company’s site workers, numbering roughly 42 people, were entirely Chinese nationals in chef, human resource officer, buyer, cashier, engineers, and lab supervisors.
Zhong Mei Engineering is said to be the employer of that workers. This caused Calle Schlettwein, the former acting minister of works and transport, to write to Lutombi.
“This ministry has received numerous complaints of our road contractors employing mainly foreign experts in key positions on most road projects in the country, while local experts … are ignored,” Schlettwein said.
We must respect our local content and Engineers in all African Government, Since Convid19 has shown us the way to support our local contractors with Equipment Machinery to execute high standard projects in Africa soils.
We must own our design and blue prints to execute projects by our engineers and local contractors.
My name Joseph Boakye Dankwah.
A Ghanaian and Construction Engineer.
When the Expatriate come we are the same Engineers they used for projects services and execution.