LUHONONO – August26 has been appointed to construct the N$92 million state-of-the-art school hostel at Schuckmannsburg Combined School in
the Kabbe North constituency of the Zambezi region. 

This comes after the previous contractor who was awarded the tender in August
2016, with the projection of completing the project in December 2019, abandoned the project after being paid about N$13 million.

Speaking during the site handover, education minister Anna Nghipondoka stated that due to a lack of capacity and many other factors, the project suffered unnecessary delays and legal battles, at the expense and disadvantage of innocent Namibian children.

 “Although disheartening, it is also worth mentioning that these delays over the years have caused the project’s value to escalate by close to N$25 million. This is a total waste of government resources, which are already scarce and hard to come by,” she stated Nghipondoka was also fuming while expressing her disappointment regarding local companies who take government for an expensive ride. 

“That is totally unacceptable, unethical and unpatriotic. We do not want these briefcase businesses, people who only come to take money and after a small job, they vanish,” emphasised the minister.

However, she was in a joyous mood that the project, which will greatly benefit residents from the flood-prone areas in the Kabbe constituency, has finally taken off. 

“I am confident that the school will make the most of this opportunity, and continue to grow from strength to strength. Our journey is simply beginning, but it is entirely appropriate for us all to celebrate how far we have come, despite the undesired hiccups and inconveniences,” observed Nghipondoka.

The project is expected to be completed in two years’ time.

However, the contactor vowed to work tirelessly and finish it within 12 months. 

Once completed, the hostel will consist of four dormitories equipped with ablution facilities for both girls and boys, a kitchen, a dining hall, two laundries, a supervisor’s house and a multi-purpose hall.