27 Nov 2018

 The on-going construction of the internal roads in Francistown West constituency’s Riverside location will cost government P6 million from the P40 million Road Levy Project.

This was revealed by Mr Bashi Ramolotsane, Councillor for Tatitown, which includes Riverside and Bluetown, in an interview recently.

The project, he noted, was to construct an asphalt overlay on approximately five kilometres of internal roads through Riverside.

Mr Ramolotsane said so far, all earthworks, assessment and priming were complete, but the road had to be corrected in some areas and that the stockpiling of surfacing materials was still ongoing.

The construction, being carried out by a citizen owned company, Lacino Civil Works, he revealed, started on June 14 and is expected to take six months. 

He noted that the project is said to be proceeding smoothly, except for a few challenges like about 24 manholes, which were below road level and had to be raised.

Mr Ramolotsane expressed delight at the project, saying it was long overdue, saying it dates as far back as 2014 for him, and maybe even way back for other leaders before him. 

The people in this area have always complained about the bad state of the roads that run through their homes, the main concern being that as Riverside is an old neighbourhood, the roads were worn out, he stressed. 

Public transport operators gave the people here a hard time when they had to drop them off in front of their homes, he said. 

Imagine the suffering the elderly and the ailing endured, but now it will be easier for them to be dropped off at home by the taxis,” Mr Ramolotsane noted.

He highlighted that there were other road projects that needed to be attended to, such as the ones in Bluetown because when some company did the sewage lines project there, as part of the upgrading of Francistown West infrastructure, they damaged the roads.

He stated that he had long reported the matters to the city council’s roads maintenance office, adding however, that they are scheduled to tour the area to assess the scale of the damage and how best it could be addressed.

Councillor Ramolotsane said the construction of internal roads had now motivated some people to start developing their homes in an effort to help bolster the image of Riverside.

A resident of Riverside, 76-year-old Ms Grace Rebagamang expressed delight at the construction of internal roads.

“I have been living in Riverside for 40 years and never imagined that I would live to see internal roads. 

We thank our leaders for finally remembering our area and we call for more developments here,” she said. ENDS