Africa-Press – Botswana. The Mandunyane-Mathangwane bypass road project has created 229 jobs. Briefing Member of Parliament for Shashe West, Mr Fidelis Molao on the progress of the project in Shashemooke on Friday, project consultant Mr Kobamelo Kgoboko explained that from the 229 jobs, Batswana made up 209 of the posts while 20 were expatriates with specific expertise.
Mr Kgoboko said the number was to increase as the project continued.
He highlighted that the 58 kilometres comprised of four bridges and six kilometres of internal and access roads respectively.
He added that it also included the construction of site offices. which upon completion of the project, would be turned into a weigh bridge to cater for the trucks that would be diverted from the city centre of Francistown.
The consultant further pointed out that the project started last year June and was to be completed in June 2025.
He said they were 39 per cent behind schedule. The delays, he said were due to challenges experienced in the relocation of services such Botswana Power Corporation, Botswana telecommunications and Water Utilities Corporation facilities that were affected by the project.
Mr Kgoboko also noted that they took pictures of houses along the construction site prior to commencement of the project and after completion so that they could see if there were any damages caused by them and to take the necessary steps thereafter.
He, however, said they were having challenges locating the home owners as they were often not available while others stayed away hence it was difficult to take pictures of the inside house to see the status before construction.
In addition, he explained that 419 properties were identified to be within the road reserve and that to date 370 which accounted for 89 per cent had been assessed and paid off while 21 were awaiting assessment and nine did not have certificates while two were pending due to double allocation.
Mr Kgoboko, however, said they had tasked the contractor to draw up a plan of how they were going to cover up for lost time, and that the contractor has promised to deliver as per the schedule.
Meanwhile, MP Molao said it was imperative for constant updates on the project so that they were in a better position to explain to the constituents on progress.
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