06 Jun 2024

The long awaited 120 kilometers Rasesa-Diphuduhudu road will be constructed during this financial year.

On Wednesday, the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mr Eric Molale, told residents of the concerned villages from Lentsweletau to Diphuduhudu that their prayers have been answered.

He said this comes after he made a tour to assess all roads across the country last year after which he made a budget proposal to Parliament in February whereupon approval for construction of some roads was made.

Mr Molale said the road, which would start from Rasesa (Tshele Hills) would pass through Lentsweletau, Mahetlwe, Hatsalatladi, Botlhapatlou, Ngware and end at Diphuduhudu.

He said other roads to be constructed across the country are Letlhakeng-Kaudwane, Otse-Dibete, Thamaga-Kubung, Mohembo-Gudigwa and Mmathethe-Bray-Werda.

The Minister introduced the Developer Manager (DM) partner Zutari Company, which had been given the responsibility to handle engineering, procurement, construction and management services of the project.

 He said the company was among the nine DMs that have been mandated to make sure that road construction projects were done on time and schedule.

Minister Molale said the DM model had been adopted by government to speed service delivery and forgo delays that existed after disbursement of funds for different projects.

He took the opportunity to tell residents that his Ministry had undergone organisational review and several departments have been dissolved and put under the same roof to avoid duplication.

He said they now have three main departments being Public Works, Transport and Logistics and Corporate Services. Mr Molale said this would help speed up service delivery and utilise officers’ profession wisely as they would be placed accordingly to work at the speed needed.

He said there would be no more departments of roads and that of buildings as they were popularly known.

The Member of Parliament for Lentsweletau/Mmopane, Ms Nnaniki Makwinja, said they were overjoyed at the news of the construction of the road as residents have long awaited for a tarred road.

She said many have always complained that the road had been promised for long while some used it for political gain , noting that it would be a thing of the past.

Ms Makwinja, who is also the Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development said it was time they focused on other development projects, emphasising that tarred road played an important role in the economy of the country.

 Mr Liakat Kably, the Member of Parliament for Letlhakeng/Lephephe shared his sentiments, adding that they were thankful for the road project and observed that it would contribute in making lives of the residents easier.

He wished that the road be done on time and schedule so that residents of the said villages could travel without worry.

 Mr Kably asked Zutari Company to make sure that they employed residents of the villages where the road passed.

Mr Julius Nshoya, a representative from Zutari Company said in an interview that they would hit the ground running by starting with site investigation, followed by the design stage.

He said the budgeting process of the project would guide the estimated cost  while duration to undertake the project would take about three months.

Mr Nshoya said he believed the whole process up to appointing the contractor may take about four months after which the road construction project would commence around August or September.

He added that the 120 kilometers project had been divided into several parts where the contractor could continue with construction while design and planning was done on the other side.

He said they would try their best to employ citizen companies and individuals to create employment for residents. ENDS