24 Aug 2016

Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Tshenolo Mabeo has said private and governmental sector role in the design and construction of roads was important in the development of road network and creating work opportunities. 

Mr Mabeo was addressing stakeholders in a consultative meeting for the revision of the Botswana Roads Design Manual (BRDM), materials and pavement design final review in Gaborone.

He said with the input of both private and governmental sector, the country’s economy would get a boost.

The minister explained that production of the revision of the BRDM was a joint effort between the Ministry of Transport and Communications through Roads Department and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration under the Institutional Cooperation funded by government of Botswana.

“Therefore we are grateful to our Norwegian partners for their invaluable input into making the revision of the Botswana Road Design Manual a reality,” he said.

Mr Mabeo said due to Botswana being a land-locked country, road transport infrastructure was therefore integral to its regional and international competitiveness.

Therefore, he explained that the condition of the Public Highway Network (PHN) would determine the country’s ability to attract business and investment.

Minister Mabeo was of the view that Botswana was a preferred transit route for operators when they accessed their markets within and beyond the SADC region.

He said thousands of vehicles within the SADC region transit Botswana to various destinations for different reasons, due to confidence on Botswana’s PHN as it played a centripetal role to international users.

“Botswana roads infrastructure is a major asset and it's valued at about P42 billion . This is much higher than the asset value of other transport modes combined such as rail and air together,” explained Mr Mabeo.

Therefore, he said good planning and design adequate management and proper preservation strategy of roads would immensely contribute to economic growth.

While on the contrary he said poor design, poor management and inadequate preservation strategy would result in loss of asset value, subsequently causing a draw-back for the economy.

He further said his ministry was the alter-ego to a prosperous economy through quality roads, and therefore could not allow for a draw-back in their strategy to mule the very roads on which the economic performance depended.

“My ministry through Roads Department has embarked on the revision of the Botswana Road Design Manual and the Standard Specification for Road and Bridge Works that was compiled as far back as 1982 and 1983 respectively,” he said.

Since then, he said more than 34 years had elapsed therefore the revision was long overdue as statistics showed that traffic had increased. BOPA