Wu denies Sunshine 'stink'

Business and property magnate Stina Wu has emphatically denied an allegation that the gravel and water being used to construct roads at her housing project in Rundu's Kaisosi settlement comes from a sewage pond.

This is after Namibian Sun approached her for comment on allegations and complaints by members of the Rundu community.

Her Kaisosi housing project, known as Sunshine Village, is being constructed on the outskirts of Rundu. Allegations are that the company contracted by Wu's Helmsman Group to construct the roads is using gravel from a pit filled with sewage. Residents say sewage is also being used to build the roads.





The complainants also questioned the quality of the roads, saying the quality of the gravel has not been tested.

With the country facing a hepatitis E outbreak, the complainants expressed the fear that people will get ill if they use the roads.

Namibian Sun visited the Kaisosi sewage pond on Friday, where no activity was taking place.

There was an unattended excavator and a black water pipe, which was partly in the sewage pond. Namibian Sun then proceeded to Sunshine Village, where the roads are being built.

On Saturday, Namibian Sun again visited the pond. This time around the excavator was working, while a water truck was also on site. Wu said yesterday she was disturbed when she heard there were rumours that water from a sewage pond was being used to construct the roads at her project.

Prior to requesting to meet up with Namibian Sun in Rundu, Wu dismissed the allegation as nonsense. Wu was in the company of Helmsman's managing partner Chris Shivolo and the company's estate agent, as well as the owner of Malibu Concrete, Fillip Nambali.

Nambali's company is contracted to build the roads at Sunshine Village.

At first Wu explained that Helmsman appointed Malibu Concrete as a subcontractor and that they were not doing the road works, therefore the blame should be shifted to the subcontractor, who she said was paid to ensure the job was done with the best-quality materials.

“The first thing I want you to understand is that we appointed a subcontractor to do the roads, we are not the ones doing the job. We can't instruct them where to get the materials, all we want is the job done with the best-quality materials,” Wu said.

She further explained she does not know where the story emanated from, seeing that the road works at Sunshine Village had been halted for more than two months.

“How can the people say he is using water from the sewage pond if he has not done any work for the past three months? I don't believe that… I don't know where that story is coming from,” Wu said.

Nambali also used the opportunity to clear the air, saying he was approached by the Rundu town council to rehabilitate a gravel pit adjacent to the sewage pond, something he agreed to do free of charge.

He explained that he decided to use gravel from the pit at the Sunshine Village housing project, where he is doing the road works.

He stressed that the gravel was used for the roadbed and not for the actual construction of the roads.

“I discovered that there was a small (amount of) gravel that can be used for the project, but only for the roadbed preparation. It was not used for the (actual) road construction, because as you know Rundu is very sandy,” Nambali said. When asked whether the gravel was tested, Nambali said it was tested last week by Bicon, a consulting company.

“Let me make it clear, the material is tested and we are not using it for the final road construction,” he said. Nambali said the gravel he used to construct an already constructed road at Sunshine Village came from a pit at Uvhungu-Vhungu, adding he paid the Sambyu Traditional Authority for it.

Regarding the allegation that sewage was being used to construct the roads, Nambaili denied this, saying the only reason he was extracting water from the pit was to move it from one area to another while rehabilitating the pit.

He said the water he used on the finished roads at Sunshine Village came from a pond at Uvhungu-Vhungu.



Council responds

The Rundu town council said it was not aware of gravel and water being extracted from the Kaisosi sewage ponds.

However, it was aware that gravel was being extracted from an old burrow pit that was flooded with sewage. This was done to prevent sewage spills.

Council officials carried out an inspection on 28 September and found that a private contractor was extracting groundwater from the embankments of the sewage ponds for the construction of gravel roads at Kaisosi Extension 10.

The council officials immediately stopped the contractor.

It said about a month ago, the town council requested the assistance of a private contractor to extract gravel from the old burrow pit to conduct emergency work to enhance the embankments of the sewage ponds to prevent sewage spillages. The council said it was not its responsibility to have the gravel tested.

“The developer's contractor is the one responsible for having the material tested by a laboratory and then providing the test results to the council for approval.

“The council discovered that the gravel material used by the road contractor to prepare the road sub-base under phase 2 of the housing project at Kaisosi Extension 10 was not tested, as no lab test results were provided to the council.

“The council therefore placed the road works on hold until the quality test results of the material are provided and approved,” the council said in its written replies.

The council has also not had a building inspector for the past four months, since the resignation of its building inspector resigned in May.

“However, most of the houses constructed at Kaisosi Extension 10 were inspected during the first and second phases of the housing project before the resignation of the building inspector. Only a few houses where not inspected after the resignation. Investigations to determine (the quality of) those few houses that were not inspected is currently in process.”

The council said further that all the house and municipal service drawings were submitted and approved.

KENYA KAMBOWE