27 Jun 2023

The development of a high order commercial centre, transport interchange and associated facilities in the Ramotswa Central Business District (CBD) has been delayed.

This was revealed by Ramotswa District Council chairperson, Mr Zaahid Jalal during a full council meeting on Monday.

Mr Jalal said due to circumstances beyond the authorities’ control, the tender validity period had elapsed and the project tendering was being redone.

“In our last meeting it was reported that the leasing of a commercial plot for the development of the CBD was at an advanced stage. It was reported that the evaluation of bids was complete and at an advanced award stage. Unfortunately the tender validity period has elapsed and the project is being re-tendered for,” he said.

He said the re-tender would be restricted to the companies that initially responded and it would be awarded by mid-August to catch up with the initial plan, ensuring contract signing by end of September.

He therefore urged all stakeholders to work tirelessly towards the project because it was primarily aimed at unlocking the village’s potential to be a major commercial and service centre that meets the growing socio-economic demands of the community.

Mr Jalal expressed concern over the pace of procurement and tendering processes, funded under both the recurrent and development budget.

He said there was a backlog of projects that were not yet implemented from the previous fiscal year such as the water reticulation project in Magope/Disana area, construction of five destitute houses, procurement of outdoor play equipment, learning materials and furniture among others.

He said the district had submitted 11 project memorandums for the 2023/2024 financial year comprising various projects and programme.

“It is worth noting that of the 11, four have already been approved.

Those are; the Ipelegeng programme at a tune of over P11 million, the P10 million for the constituency community projects, the procurement of reception classroom and outdoor play equipment amounting to over P830 000 as well as the design and construction of internal roads at a tune of over P33 million,” he added.

On other issues, Mr Jalal said to augment the shortfall of land shortage spaces from Semaneng Hill, Magope Hill and Taung had been detailed to make residential layout and the approved layouts were expected to produce about 500 plots.

He added that the land board had pledged to allocate 500 plots for the current financial year becuase an area of approximately 30 hectares had been identified for the village expansion in Taung towards A1 Road. ENDs