Africa-Press – Botswana. Francistown-Nata (A3 Road) Development Manager, Okavango Africa Consortium has been asked to prioritise the maintenance of potholes on the road, particularly along Kutamogoree-Mosetse areas.
Addressing the media after the tour of the road on Friday, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mr Noah Salakae said it was the contractors’ responsibility to ensure that maintenance was done on the road while undertaking reconstruction works.
The Minister highlighted that the project entailed the reconstruction of a 200-kilometers road, 30 kilometers of which was from Tonota through Francistown to Mathangwane, being a dual carriage way which would include construction of additional bridges at Tati and Shashe River respectively.
Minister Salakae, however, expressed satisfaction with the progress made thus far, noting that from his first visit in November last year to date, there was improvement, although they wee at 16 per cent against the planned progress of 20 per cent which translated to 29 days behind schedule.
He further explained that the road from Mathangwane to Nata would be a single carriage way with another construction of a bridge at Nata.
Nonetheless, he said they would meet with relevant stakeholders to discuss to discuss the possibility of having a bye-pass by Nata bridge to re-direct trucks from the village centre since there was limited space to make a wider road to accommodate heavy trucks.
The bye-pass he said, would be almost five to 10 kilometers, and would be linked to Nata-Kasane road, which was also under construction.
Minister Salakae said the A3 Road project was among those done through the Development Manager model since at the time of review the contractor was already on site.
He said recommendations from the task team responsible for a comprehensive review of the Development Manager model, would be presented to Parliament for appreciation.
Meanwhile Okavango Africa Consortium general manager Mr Moemedi Gabana, explained that most of the earth works particularly along the Francistown-Mathangwane area had been done and they were anticipating that by September or October, asphalt would be laid on most parts along the area.
He also noted that construction works for additional bridge at Mathangwane had started as the aim was to beat the start of rainy season. The whole project is expected to be completed by 2027.
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