Africa-Press – Botswana. Government plans to solicit interested private parties to partner with to upgrade the A1 Road to dual carriageway from Ramatlabama to Ramokgwebana border.
Answering a question in Parliament on Monday, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr Noah Salakae said government’s intention was to allocate the functions of design, build, finance, operation and maintenance to a private party through a Private-Public Partnership model.
He said as President Advocate Duma Boko had pronounced on many occasions, the project was high priority and was expected to introduce toll gates to generate revenue.
Mr Salakae said a detailed bankable feasibility study of the envisaged scheme would have to be undertaken before procurement of a private party could take place.
He said the feasibility study was estimated to take a period of nine months commencing in August with completion date planned before end of May 2026.
Mr Salakae said the procurement of a private party was expected to be complete by August 2026, followed by negotiation of concession agreement, which would take an estimated period of six months.
He said the construction works, which included erection of toll plazas, would thereafter commence before end of 2026/27 financial year for an estimated period of 36 months.
He said the concession would span a period of 25 to 30 years depending on the rate of return on investment. He said once the road was upgraded to dual carriage capacity, safety would drastically improve.
As regards to alternative routes, Mr Salakae said some already existed such as Molepolole-Shoshong-Serowe and the recently constructed Dibete-Mookane-Machaneng road and Mabeleapudi-Serule road, whose objectives were to decongest A1 road and also served as alternative route in the advent of A1 road tolling. He said the Mmandunyane-Mathangwane road, which was under construction would also serve as an alternative route for motorists who would want to bypass the A1 toll road. The minister said the tolling scheme was more attractive and viable to investors when traffic volumes were high, hence the intention was not to unnecessarily divert traffic away from the toll road and any alternative route might be considered in future if feasible and budget permitting.
Mr Salakae said there were no plans to upgrade Malolwane-Mmaphashalla road to serve as a toll free alternative but would serve as a alternative route for local transport operators, small hold farmers, cross border traders using the Zanzibar border post and inter district travellers. Currently, he said there were a total average of 1 220 cross border trucks and logistics vehicles using A1 road on monthly basis entering through Ramatlabama, Pioneer, Tlokweng, Martin’s Drift, Ramokgwebana and Kazungula border posts.
Minister Salakae said it was difficult at this stage to estimate what proportion of them would divert from A1 road after tolling without a feasibility study.
He said the combined population of Kgatleng East-Mahalapye East and other constituencies in Tswapong exceeded 140 000 and these were to benefit from the development of the corridor.
The minister highlighted that the ministry had not made any projections to estimate the potential revenue collections from cross border transporters and logistics operators on the A1.
He added that the projections would be determined by the study and that the ministry was collecting revenue from cross border transporters and logistics operators in the form of road user charges at gazetted points of entry. Furthermore, he said the charge was remitted to the consolidated fund and were available for use in all government programmes.
He was responding to a question from Kgatleng East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule who asked the minister whether government had any confirmed or proposed plans to introduce tollgates along the A1 highway. Mr Pule wanted the anticipated timeline and geographic coverage of toll gates installations and whether government had explored the designation and upgrading of alternative routes to ease pressure on the A1, ensure affordable rural mobility and protect local economies that could be adversely affected by toll fees if they were installed, considering that the A1 was the most trafficked commercial corridor and critical north-south trade route.
He also asked the minister to indicate any possibility of urgently upgrading the Malolwane-Mmaphashalla road, which traversed key rural settlements and connected Kgatleng and Central Districts serving as a viable toll free alternative.
He also asked the minister how many cross border trucks and logistics vehicles did the A1 accommodate monthly and what proportion might reasonably be expected to shift to alternative routes if tolls were introduced.
The MP also asked which constituencies including Kgatleng East and Mahalapye East were set to benefit from the development and asked the minster to state the combined population of the areas.
Mr Pule asked whether the ministry used any models or projections to estimate potential revenue collection particularly from cross border transporters and logistics operators relied on A1 Road.
He also wanted to know whether government did not consider prioritising the installation of tollgates within the framework of NDP 12 or through a supplementary emergency stimulus plan.
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