Namibia PDNA 2009 - GFDRR

Stormwater management, in urban areas, requires a comprehensive solution. Flood water from outside the towns should be diverted before
causing disruption to township. However, rain water and over-spilling water from the outskirts of townships should be carried away by
stormwater systems to be constructed as part of the urban road system. In this regard, proposals from the towns, Oshakati and Ondangwa,
to improve the stormwater management system and construction of critical bridges and roads are included in the needs assessment. 28
Table 46: Urban roads improvements and rain stormwater management
Activity
Cost Estimate
(N$ million)
Ondangwa Town Council stormwater management and roads improvement 29.5
Oshakati Town council stormwater management 107.0
Total 136.5
Total needs: In total, the financing needs for reconstruction and mitigation (making the roads in these areas flood resilient), without
provision for inflation, are in the amount of N$2.8 billion.
The proposed investments suggestion could be aligned with Programme 1 of the transport sector in NDP3 where 2,000 km of rural
gravel roads are proposed to be constructed, 300 km of rural access roads improved to bitumen standards and 1,200 km of trunk
and main roads improved to bitumen. However, they will be on top of NDP3’s investments.
NDP3 is suggesting to upgrade and to construct more roads compared to PDNA for obvious reason, since the NDP3 covers all the
country. And this shows that there is a capacity to implement the roads suggested to upgrade and construct by the PDNA.
The PDNA suggestion is to upgrade 262 km main roads and 450 km rural (district) roads to bitumen standard and improve about 426 km
rural (district) roads. Some of the rural (district) roads when upgraded will move to main road. The roads identified by the PDNA could
thus help to determine the category of roads to be upgraded under NDP3. The PDNA also suggests constructing about 600 km access
roads while NDP3 anticipates 2000 km and this shows the 600 km access roads could be constructed within the NDP3 framework.
The construction industry has the benefit of tapping into the well developed capacity in neighbouring countries. In addition, it gives
the opportunity for the development of the local construction industry.
Preventive maintenance measures are an important factor in reducing damage and it is also essential to develop a maintenance
strategy that will help to cope with the changes. It is also worth assessing the impacts of such incidences on maintenance cycles and
road life maintenance costs, in order to develop and plan appropriate improvements.
The use of water transport in areas like the Caprivi Region, particularly during the flooding period, is an idea that strongly recommended
by the local population. No damage was observed or reported on the existing telecom towers and ground cables. In most cases the
towers were located on higher ground and the main problem was gaining access for maintenance purposes. Since the ground cable cover
was made of water resistant material, the draining of manholes has continued with little difficulty. The operators have not reported loss in
revenue associated to the flooding. Therefore, this report does not contain a damage and loss estimate for the telecom sector.
However, towers in some places (e.g. Onesi town) were built on outlets of culverts and verges of flood pans, which is an issue to be
considered by the operators before future rainy seasons.
Postal services were also not affected by the flooding and no damage or loss was reported.
28 An additional factor to consider is that stormwater management in urban areas is also related to flooding of houses and other buildings. A
long-term plan to address this issue is likely to significantly increase the needs estimated here.
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