14 Aug 2017

The Kanye-Jwaneng road is part of the Output and Performance Based Road Contract (OPRC) that is currently being piloted in the Southern district.

This was said by the Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Kitso Mokaila while answering a question in parliament on Friday.

Mr Mokaila said the Kanye-Jwaneng section of the road is a component of the OPRC Package 1, which is approximately 123 kilometres. He explained that the project commenced along the A10 road from the Mmankgodi junction road and joined the A2 at Sejelo junction in Kanye. Thereafter, it continued and ended at the Jwaneng round-about, he said.

Minister Mokaila said the road included access roads of approximately 52 kilometres, adding that the project was a 10 year contract which started in 2014 and was being implemented in segments of sections. Further, the minister told parliament that the project was delayed by five months and will therefore not be completed as expected due to lack of proper project management practices by the contractor, heavy rains during the last rainy season, cash flow problems as well as unavailability of approved burrow-pits to source the required quality of road construction materials.

He said the issue of burrow-pits was in the process of being resolved. He said on account of the delay, the project was expected to be completed by December 2017.

On the percentage of work done versus work planned in relation to the Kanye-Jwaneng road, Mr Mokaila said the progress of road works completed up to surfacing was at 65 per cent against the planned 100 per cent. He noted that the percentage of funds expended versus the budget was 16 per cent, saying Parliament should note that the contract ran up to year 2024 inclusive of maintenance.

He further pointed out that the materials used for construction of the road conformed to specifications, adding that the materials were subjected to requisite assessment and approval prior to construction and were also subjected to rigorous testing to ensure compliance to the requirements of the Roads Department Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Works.

Mr Mokaila said the number of traffic incidents and accidents recorded since construction in the Kanye-Jwaneng road section from 2015 to date was 44.

He said the Road Safety and Control of Signage was not adequate and to the agreed standard, explaining however that the contractor had been cautioned and some penalties applied where safety fell short of the indicators.

He stated that Batswana sub-contractors engaged under the project were Bango Trading, Asphalt Botswana, Material Testing Services, POTCOM LG Engineering, Green Weathers, Major Star Investments, Freemond Investments, Well Spring Music, Kriss Cross Investments, SANCOPIT PVT LTD and LG Engineering.

He added that his ministry was not able to give the value of contracts each sub-contractor had been contracted as these were domestic sub-contractors and not nominated sub-contractors.

Mr Mokaila said an inspection was carried out on July 28, 2017 as part of the joint between the client, contractor and monitoring consultant. He added that the inspection was also conducted by the ministry through the Roads Department on August 1, 2017 and  explained further that the monitoring consultant had inspectors on the ground who ensure quality and safety on daily basis on the road.

MP Shawn Ntlhaile of Jwaneng-Mabutsane had asked the minister to state if the project would be completed on time, and the reasons for delay, if any.

He had also wanted to know the percentage of work completed versus planned as well as the percentage of funds expended versus budget.

Mr Ntlhaile also asked if the material used met the required specifications and asked the minister to state  the number of traffic incidents and accidents recorded since construction started and if adequate road safety and control signage was in use.

Mr Ntlhaile had also asked the minister to state the names of Batswana sub-contractors engaged including the value of their contracts,as well as when the last inspection was carried out on the road. ENDS