The Parliamentary Standing Committee on economics and public administration on Thursday expressed concern over the abandoned train station at Outjo in the Kunene Region.
Members of the parliamentary standing committee who visited Outjo are Hambyuka Hamunyela as chairperson, Mathias Mbundu, Apius !Auchab, and Ivan Skrywer, who is their secretary.
The members took a fact-finding mission to the station where they asked questions to TransNamib’s acting chief executive officer, Webster Gonzo, and his team on why the station is abandoned, dilapidated and why TransNamib is failing to lease out buildings on the site.
Gonzo on his part said the station has been like that for more than 20 years, since his company stopped transporting livestock, animal feed and charcoal from the town.
Out of the seven buildings, Gonzo said only two are being rented out to private companies, while the other five on the site are empty, vandalised and old.
“Another concern is that some community members with livestock are now illegally occupying a portion of our land,” said the Otjiwarongo/Outjo train station master, Reginald Eksteen.
He further said the fence of the station, which is about a kilometre long, has been stolen, as well as the electricity cables.
About 100 metres of the Outjo-Otjiwarongo railway line has also been stolen.
The committee members called on TransNamib to get tenants for the buildings so it can be maintained.
They then visited Otjiwarongo, where they were informed that the Otjiwarongo train station is important as it is a drive through station from Ondangwa, Tsumeb and Walvis Bay.
“The station at Otjiwarongo largely transacts in fuel tankers, cement consignments, charcoal and transports empty containers to and from the different stations,” said Eksteen.
More than 90 TransNamib employees from 10 departments work at the station, he added.
A total of 32 locomotives countrywide that are older than 60 years are owned by the company, while it also plans to acquire 25 new locomotives by 2026, said Gonzo.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency