02 Feb 2022

Mahalapye Sub-district Council has secured P950 000 to repair the damaged bus bays at Mahalapye bus rank.

This was revealed by Central District Council chairperson, Mr Ketshwereng Galeragwe on Monday during a media briefing  organised to respond to the recent public outcry about damages at the bust rank which has been undergoing refurbishment.

He said the bus rank was partially opened for bus operators prior to the 2021 festive season in order to address congestion and to curb accidents.

A few weeks later, he said, it was reported that two bus bays were damaged. 

Mr Galeragwe said the damage was due to failure to carry out a duo-technical survey before the project resumed as a result of lack of funds to engage experts to perform the survey.

Mr Galeragwe said the project had been halted to repair the damages. He noted that the refurbishment of the bus rank began in May 2021 and that the installation of tower lights and anti-theft fence as well as bus and taxi parking signages had been completed.

He said taxi parking lanes and the installation of waiting sheds, where members of the public could take shelter while waiting for transportation, and the storm water drainage system were still lagging behind.

On the Shoshong minimal infrastructure development project, which is running concurrently with the refurbishment of the bus rank, Mr Galeragwe said 17.4 kilometres of the 18.2 kilometres road project has been opened for use.

Both projects, he said, were funded by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development through the Road Levy Fund at the tune of more than P57 million.

He said over P47 million was for paving Shoshong internal roads while P10 million was for the refurbishment of the bus rank.

To reduce costs in both projects, he said the sub-district council partly engaged its labour and was also using its equipment.

In Shoshong, he said artisans were employed to pave the internal roads and that unskilled locals were employed to assist. ENDS