12 Jan 2022

 The envisaged tarred road from Mmathethe to Bray will benefit some of the villages such as Metlobo, says Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Thulagano Segokgo.

Speaking in a kgotla meeting in Metlobo Monday organised by Mmathethe/Molapowabojang MP, Dr Edwin Dikoloti, Mr Sekgokgo noted that plans were underway to construct the road that linked those villages, and that consultants would commence work in the near future.
He noted that even though experts’ assessments would determine the design of the road, other villages would benefit through the access roads.

“The trend with major roads is that usually they do not pass through the village, but there is provision for access roads to villages along the way,” he explained.

Consequently, he called on Metlobo residents to be cooperative during the assessment period to ensure that the project was successful.

He noted that sometimes projects were delayed by compensation disputes when personal property was affected.

He assured residents that due consultations would take place throughout the whole process.

Still on roads, Mr Sekgokgo acknowledged that some roads were in a bad state, especially during the raining season.

He attributed this to shortage of resources, especially graders, that had to service wider areas. He said the Good Hope sub-district was currently using one grader following another breakdown.

On other issues, the minister said that as part of the digitization process, government was committed to upgrading Internet connectivity to 4G in villages in the Southern district.

Additionally, he said through the SmartBots initiative, government intended to improve service delivery in the public sector by making it fast and efficient.

He said in order to reduce congestion at public facilities such as clinics and schools, technology would be used to drive innovation to transform the economy.

This, he noted, resonated with the country’s aspiration of transforming to a knowledge-based economy that was inclusive of everyone.

For their part, residents complained that Mmathethe-Metlobo road was in a bad state and there had been empty promises for a tarred road for a long time.

One resident, Mr James Molelekedi said even though they were grateful that finally the road would be constructed, there was need for a clear explanation on the road design and time frames.
Other residents decried high crime rate in the village, which they said made them live in fear and abandon their fields.

Even though they called for more police reinforcement, Ms Lizzy Lekalabutswa also emphasised the need for parents to play their role in fighting crime.

“It is high time parents took their responsibility by making sure that they know their children’s whereabouts, especially at night. Most crimes are committed by young people, so as parents we also need to introspect,” she said. ENDS