22 Sep 2020

The Ministry of Transport and Communications will spend over P273 million on the maintenance of A35 and portion of the A3 roads, says the minister, Mr Thulagano Segokgo.

Addressing a full North West District Council session on Septemeber 21, the minister revealed that the amount accounted to 19.8 per cent of all tenders awarded to citizen contractors countrywide.

The government, he said was equally concerned about the bad condition of the A3 road, which runs from Sehithwa to Mohembo border post.

He noted that the road was critical in facilitating trade.

Noting that some maintenance activities on some sections of the road were currently ongoing, Mr Segokgo also revealed that a contractor had been engaged by Department of Roads, to overlay the road between Tsau and Habu turnoff with asphalt.

He also noted that the section was previously maintained by a contractor hired in 2015, who failed to complete the works, resulting in the contract being terminated. 

Another section of the road from Habu turnoff to Nokaneng, he said was overlaid with asphalt and completed in 2016, adding that the road was still in a good condition and free from potholes.

He also acknowledged that a 43 km section of Sehithwa to Tsau road was in a dilapidated condition and it was being maintained by patching potholes through a private contractor, while the Gumare to Ikoga road section was the most damaged with many potholes and uneven surfaces. 

The minister further observed that motorists drove outside the road to avoid potholes, adding that the 75 km Ikoga to Shakawe road section was reportedly being patched in-house and the maintained sections would remain intact until the next rain season.

Mr Segokgo explained that private contractors were engaged on routine basis to patch the road. Shakawe to Mohembo border post section of about 16 km, he said was resealed in 2010 and was now in a poor condition.

He also informed councillors that road maintenance remained a challenge, not only in their district, but the whole country, mentioning lack of earth moving plant to maintain roads, poor quality of road construction materials, saline gravels and water and shortage of skilled personnel as some of the constraints.

He said his ministry had decided to outsource both routine and periodic maintenance to 100 per cent citizen contractors. 

Mr Segokgo reported that the ministry was dealing with roads that are either earth, gravel or tarred and the main maintenance activities that are carried out included reconstruction, asphalt overlay, reseal, dry grading and spot improvements, bush clearing, pothole patching, grass cutting and litter picking.

Other challenges that he said were encountered were the ponding of water on gravel or earth roads, due to the nature of the topography. 

Litter and bushes were also reported to be a serious challenge in the region.

Councillors were also informed that the 13 roads that they had requested the ministry to consider for wet grading and upgrading to bitumen standards would be dry graded in the next financial year because of the nature of the material, which was often very difficult to compact once it has been disturbed as well as the wet grading costs and logistics involved. 

Mr Segokgo also revealed that his ministry had no plans to upgrade the Shorobe-Mawana-Sankoyo-Mababe road to bitumen standard. 

“I am aware that if this road is upgraded to bitumen standard it will cut the distance between Maun and Kasane by 304km, which will impact more on reduction in travel time,” he added.

Earlier on, councillor for Bojanala ward, Mr Luke called for prioritisation of the A35 road reconstruction, which he said had gone beyond its lifespan. 

He also requested that in tarring the road, consideration should be given to tarring of roads such as Tubu/Habu, Etsha 1, 6 and 13, Kajaja, Sepopa, Ikoga, Nxamasare junctions from A35 road.

To promote cross border linkage, Cllr Motlaleselelo said tarring of  the Nokaneng/Dobe border post road should also be considered. 

He said other roads to be considered under wet grading include Dobe/Xaxa, Chukumuchu/Ghani, Ghani/Mohembo and Nxamasere/Chukumuchu among others. Ends