Etosha to receive road upgrades worth N$136 million
The upgrade of the Etosha National Park's road infrastructure has cost the environment ministry N$136 million for five phases.This according to the director of planning and technical services for the Ministry of Environment, Boas Errki, during a dehorning exercise at the Etosha National Park. He made the statement shortly after environment minister Pohamba Shifeta joined park rangers for the dehorning of two black rhinos last week.
The construction on tourist roads began in February 2019 and was set to be completed earlier in May this year. "We want to secure adequate funding through the national budget allocation and we also have established a conservation fund through which we want to have a consistent maintenance plan for the infrastructure in protected areas," Erkki said.
He added that the has been a significant drop in revenue due to the poor quality of roads over the last few years, thus encouraging this investment. "If we don't invest in the upgrading of roads, we cannot expect tourists to visit. That's why we make it a priority to maintain the road infrastructure," he said.
From 2009 to 2017, the ministry said that it upgraded 282.1 km of tourist roads from the park between Namutoni, Onkoshi and Halali. In total, the ministry invested N$77.8 million.
During a presentation, the minister said that the roads should allow both young and old to easily travel to and from the park. "Young people with the Golf GTIs should be able to drive on the roads. However, speed limits apply in the park, as some people still drive 100 km/h in a national park. The park needs to maintain the standard it has now," he said.