Africa-Press – Botswana. Loabtse residents have proposed for installation of a toll tollgate on the access road from the Pioneer border gate through the town.
During a meeting addressed by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr Noah Salakae at Peleng kgotla on Thursday, residents said it was high time government considered Pioneer road a candidate for tolling as it was normally used by big and heavy duty vehicles which transits through Lobatse.
They said the tollgates would not only create jobs for residents but would also ensure that the town generated the much-needed revenue for developments.
In his remarks, Minister Salakae concurred with residents and noted that Pioneer border gate road which was approximately 12 km from Lobatse was earmarked for asphalt overlay at the tune of a little over P51 million. He said Pioneer road had a historical meaning since it was the first entry point of the late Nelson Mandela when he visited his exiled comrades who were residing in Lobatse at the time.
“It is for that reason that government intends to keep the road in a good state,” he mentioned.
He told residents that asphalt overlay was much cheaper than trying to maintain the current bitumen system, adding that with the road already affected by potholes, it would cost government over P100 million instead of P51 million. Furthermore, the Minister said government was planning to construct the Ramatlabama-Lobatse road to dual carriageway. He said the project was currently at design stage and that the road would extend to Lobatse-Boatle.
On other issues, Mr Salakae told Lobatse residents that government was considering increase of public transport fares in April. He said the decision came after transport operators approached government for an increase hence the countrywide consultations.
During the meeting divergent views were put forward. One resident Mr James Makati said there was no need for an increase because most of the public transport was not road worthy and not even user friendly to disabled customers. Others decried the fact that some taxi operators had a tendency of refusing to take customers to their paid destinations.
The Minister advised them to always take registration numbers of such vehicles and report them to relevant authorities. He also cautioned taxi and bus operators to desist from such behavior saying the department could easily revoke their permits.
