12 Aug 2018

Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Kitso Mokaila has told residents of villages along the Masunga-Tshesebe road that unavailability of gravel is delaying progress of the project. 

Addressing residents of Kgari, Pole, Masukwane, Mosojane, Letsholathebe and Masunga at a joint kgotla meeting in Mosojane on August 8, Mr Mokaila apologised for the slow road progress, saying the project was 17 per cent complete against the expected 75 per cent.

He said his ministry had surveyed borrow pits for acquisition of gravel, but that when they applied for a licence, it came to light that the pits were privately owned and that the owners charged government exorbitant prices.

The Masunga/Tshesebe road project commenced in May 2017 and is scheduled to be completed in January 2019. The project was awarded to M/s Bash Carriers at a cost of P500 million. 

The minister stated that in December government assisted the contractor to access gravel from locals in Tshesebe which helped to progress the project, adding that by now at least one of the three bridges should have been complete but that not even one had been done. 

Specially elected councillor, Mr Jenamiso Jerry asked the minister what had happened to the farms that were relinquished by the people of the villages affected. 

Former councillor, Mr Gumbu Palalani complained that government was not stringent on local contractors which resulted in poor service whenever they were awarded tenders. 

Mr Humphrey Bernard of Tshesebe expressed disappointment that government continued to cite lack of gravel as the cause for the delay, revealing that he had given the contractor permission to get gravel from his farms. 

He further complained that residents of Tshesebe did not benefit from the project because no one from the village was employed by the contractor. 

Kgosi Fridah Mosojane reiterated that it was disappointing that the youth from villages along the road did not get employed on the project, requesting the minister to explain where the workers had come from. 

Kgosi Mosojane added that she believed the contractor should have sub contracted for access roads. 

Presenting on behalf of dikgosi of the villages affected, Kgosi Maruje III wondered if all the stakeholders had shown commitment. He also wanted to know measures government had put in place to ensure there was unity. 

He further asked the minister to state the new timeline for completion of the project, as the January 2019 deadline was not possible to meet. 

Kgosi Maruje said the Ministry of Transport and Communications should have collaborated with other ministries such as local government and rural development, mineral resources, green technology and energy security, land management, water and sanitation services to iron out issues that had surfaced causing delays. 

In response, the minister admitted that they overlooked issues such as the acquisition of gravel and licensing of borrow pits which was done by a different ministry. 

Mr Mokaila also noted that contractual terms were technical and confidential, and that he could not publicly disclose them. 

The minister stated that his ministry did encourage contractors to employ locals when engaged in a project in an area, but noted that it was the contractor’s prerogative to employ whoever they wanted.

He expressed worry about local contractors who did not take projects seriously, adding that managing the project was a challenge in that engineers were based at the ministry. 

Kgosi Sibangani Mosojane advised the minister to keep holding consultations with all stakeholders.  Ends