Windhoek — The Zambezi Waterfront Tourism Park will be close for visitors this festive season, as the accommodation facilities at the park have still not yet been completed

The park was scheduled to open this festive season.

Even though the bungalow units are done they are yet to be connected with electricity, and other essential fine-tunings still have to be done, according to the project engineer Farhad Nadimi.

"Phase one of the park is complete. It is just the power connection. The metering units [have not been connected by] the Northern Regional Electricity Distribution Company (Nored)," he said.

Many holidaymakers en route to the north-east in the Caprivi Region were planning to spend their holidays at the much-anticipated park. The project commenced in 2007 and has been marred by numerous delays. Nadimi nevertheless said work to complete the part is progressing well.

Government has been availing about N$23 million annually towards the project and for the 2010/11 financial year availed another N$22 million from the contingency fund to complete the first phase.

The waterfront is located on 22 hectares along the southern banks of the Zambezi River and has access to the Trans-Caprivi highway.

It started as part of a government initiative to stimulate socio-economic development in the north-eastern part of the country, through activities that would attract investments and promote Namibia as a key tourism destination.