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 GOVERNMENT'S plan to build the Neckartal Dam near Keetmanshoop at a cost of N$2,4 billion is to start next year, with the design to be completed by October, a consultant has said.
"The scoping report for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is complete and then the full EIA study will go ahead," Günter Leicher, one of the consultants, said yesterday.
"Parallel to this process, the design of the dam wall and related infrastructure is underway," he told The Namibian.
Last month Agriculture Minister John Mutorwa told Parliament that construction would start next year. He did not say if funding for the huge project had been secured.
The Development Budget document only shows a total of N$1,6 billion for "large dam construction" over the next three years.
The proposed dam has a catchment area of 45 365 square kilometres and will be located in the Fish River 40 kilometres west of Keetmanshoop. The aim of the planned dam is to allow irrigation farming.
There is already the Naute Dam near Keetmanshoop, which has maintained an average water level of 70 to 100 per cent over the past five years.
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