16 Mar 2016

The Tonota-Francistown 30km road upgrading to dual carriageway is currently at 97 per cent progress compared to 100 per cent planned as at February 2016.

The project is, however, scheduled for completion by April this year.

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo said for the road infrastructure, there has been significant progress regarding the commencement and completion of mega projects in the ministry.

The minister said the construction of the Thapama interchange in Francistown was 31 per cent complete against 52 per cent planned as at February 2016.

He said the project fell behind time due to delayed relocation of telecommunication services, while the interchange was expected to be complete by end August this year.

“Completion of the interchange will enhance traffic flow in and out of the city of Francistown,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, a 135km section of the Nata-Kazungula road is complete while the remaining 65km has been awarded for design.

The minister also told Parliament that the long awaited design and construction of the 109km road between Charleshill and Ncojane has finally been awarded to Zac Construction for a period of 36 months.

He said currently design works were ongoing and on schedule, while the first construction works were expected to commence during the first quarter of 2016/17 and the project was expected to be completed by September 2018.

The design review of Mohembo Bridge across the Okavango River has also been completed and pre-contract for construction has commenced.

Furthermore, Mr Mabeo said the ministry has identified of 14 projects to implement under the ESP.

These projects, he said, comprise of eight major projects and six access roads below 30km and such are Thalamabele-Mosu road, Moshupa-Manyana, Thamaga-Kubung, Good Hope-Kgoro-Gathwane, Radisele-Pilikwe and Modipane-Mabalane roads.

Mr Mabeo, who is also Thamaga-Kumakwane MP, said some of the eight major projects had been designed and were ready for construction, while other designs were being reviewed.

He, however, noted that maintenance and upkeep of the country’s road network continued to pose a challenge to his ministry.

“We continue to engage local contractors to do bush clearing along public road networks on output-based basis. This initiative is proving to be more efficient as more roads are being cleared,” he said.

He also said the initiative has been extended to pothole patching in some of the roads as a pilot project, adding that roads that were reaching their end of design lives continued to be resealed.

The Serule-Tonota, Sebina-Tutume, Molepolole-Mapharangwane, Khumaga-Motopi, Sebina-Masunga and Selebi Phikwe-Sefhophe roads are examples of works that were successfully completed through the reseal or asphalt overlay maintenance programme.

Minister Mabeo also said the ministry was engaging the community on short-term contracts to collect litter along public highways.

He said the initiative has also proved to be effective in areas where they collaborated with local authorities.

As for Labour Based Technology (LBT) projects along the A1 road, the ministry is currently working on modalities of unbundling the projects to create more opportunities for employment and improve efficiency as more youth contractors would be engaged to undertake various activities such as cattle chasing, vegetation control, fence repairs and pothole patching.

Meanwhile, Parliament on Tuesday approved over P3billion for the ministry’s 2016/17 financial year recurrent and development budget. Ends