Economic Income

Yasold went on to say to Val, "And Swakopmund has the Swakop River as a water source. That alone puts you far ahead of us in Walvis Bay Port."

At the mention of the Swakop River, Val could not help feeling rather pleased with himself. The river had given rise to Swakopmund. Though its flow was not especially stable, it was still one of the few good places in all of Southwest Africa.

"And the Mangalor Highway is equally important to Swakopmund. After all, our two cities are less than thirty kilometers apart. You only need to build a short road to connect with the Mangalor Highway—that is all it takes. Or you could simply use the road already running between our two cities," Yasold suggested.

There was a municipal road between Walvis Bay Port and Swakopmund, built along the coastline. Yasold's suggestion was for Swakopmund to build a road directly linking to the Mangalor Highway. Since the highway ran from northeast to southwest, a straight road from Swakopmund to the highway on its eastern side would cut out the need to detour through Walvis Bay Port.

"Of course we have to build the road. That is no difficulty for us. What annoys me is why they did not build the highway directly to Swakopmund. Then one could head south straight from Swakopmund and reach Walvis Bay Port, saving a great deal of construction work and materials, avoiding repeated construction, and improving road efficiency."

Yasold said, "That shows the higher government values Walvis Bay Port more than Swakopmund. Compared with your Swakopmund, our only advantage is probably this deepwater harbor. Your Swakopmund, on the other hand, cannot go any further because of the Swakop River."

The Swakop River's influence on Swakopmund was two-sided. Its relatively abundant water supply had indeed