Ongwediva junior secondary school in limbo

THE Ongwediva Junior Secondary School is in a state of disrepair with broken window panes, damaged ceilings as well as missing doors.

The school also has no electricity because most cables have been vandalised.

The school principal Immanuel Nepela told The Namibian yesterday that he is not happy with the situation.

“In this day and age where we try to integrate ICT into our teaching methods, how can we do that without electricity?” he asked.

Nepela said in winter learners cannot concentrate because the classrooms are cold, while during the rainy season, learners have to move from one class to the next to avoid getting wet.

He said the regional directorate of education told him that the new Ongwediva Junior Secondary School was supposed to have been completed by 17 March 2013. He further expressed unhappiness that no one from the education directorate bothered to inform them about the delays in completing the new school.

Head boy Johannes Nekwaya (18) said the pupils are very unhappy about sitting in old classrooms, while they were promised to move to their new school early this year.

“It is not fair on us because our concentration is affected,” he said.

When The Namibian visited the new site, four workers, including the project manager of Sahara Investments, the company contracted to build the school, were sitting idle, while a cleaner swept the interlocks.

The project manager said his company was working in conjunction with Uukumwe Construction and were tasked to put on finishing touches.

He said he didn’t know why construction has been delayed because his company joined the project at a later stage and they are almost done with plumbing work.

Oshana education deputy director Immanuel Aipanda said the contractor WDL and Uukumwe Construction were given the N$39-million-tender on 19 July 2012 and were supposed to complete the school within 18 months.

“We understand the contractor experienced financial difficulties and stopped working at some stage. We also understand that another company wanted to rescue the company,” said Aipanda.

“We also want to see the facilities used for their intended purpose. It pains us to see buildings sitting idle while learners are learning in dilapidated classrooms. The earlier the matter is resolved the better,” Aipanda said.

The architect from Afshani Afshani Architects said he understands that the construction company experienced financial problems and that a request was submitted to the education ministry to appoint another company.

Project coordinator at the ministry of education Walter Cloete said the ministry was in the process of terminating the current contract with WDL and Uukumwe because they had failed to meet the deadline. Cloete also said although the school is almost complete, it only needs a sewage pump and interlocks.

He also said the ministry was assessing the costs to complete the school before appointing a new company.

Attempts to get comments from Uukumwe construction company director Joram Nghixulifwa and his partner Jonah Eiki, were unsuccessful.