04 Nov 2020

Residents of Motlhabaneng and Lentswelemoriti have called on government to tar their gravel road to ease travel between the villages and other parts of the region.

Speaking through their village development committees (VDCs) during meetings with area Member of Parliament, Mr Taolo Lucas, the residents agitated for a tarred road from Lekkerpot Junction, through Motlhabaneng and Lentswelemoriti Point Drift border gate.

The VDCs said they had been advancing calls for the transformation of the gravel road from time immemorial, saying they believed the road was dangerous as it had multiple pits and it turned into a stream when it rained.

They said this also limited their travels to Bobonong, where they accessed financial, banking and health services, even postal services.

Mr Lucas however informed the residents that the road would not be tarred
any time soon, as it was not catered for in the national development plan and neither was it captured in the former MP’s handover notes.

Consequently, he urged his constituents to join forces with him in agitating for the road project, revealling that in some constituencies, the electorate formed committees to advocate for certain projects.

Mr Lucas revealed that in his conversations with some officials from the Department of Roads, it was clear that the gravel road was expensive to maintain.

For his part, ward councillor, Mr Victor Mphee said councillors had done all in their power to prioritise the road, adding that Bobirwa Sub-district Council had submitted the road proposal to Central District Council, which found the need to upgrade it into bitumen standard.

He, however, said the road failed at ministry level, when competing against other roads from across the country.

He said that even the Department of Roads had authored a letter to support their cause, also stating that the road was costly to maintain. ENDS