Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture (MTEC) Hon. Ntlhoi Motsamai has requested funds for the completion of the Lesotho National Museum and Art Gallery from the
government. Motsamai said this last week during her inspection at the ongoing project. In an interview with Informative Newspaper she stated that they have come to inspect the project so that her ministry could make a clear
report to the Ministry of Finance regarding the funds needed for the completion of the museum. “The building is almost complete, it just needs money to
complete and the expectation is that the construction will be completed by the end of this year,” Motsamai stated. The construction of the museum commenced in 2015 with the expectation that it will be completed in two
years (December 2017) however seven years later the project is still yet to be completed. Last year during the Minister of Development Planning Hon. Selibe Mochoboroane’s site visit to the
project, it was discovered that low cash flow is one big factor that hinders the completion of the museum. Mochoboroane had told the media that the actual construction expenses were estimated to cost around M111
million when the construction started “but now we are above M170 million. It is also assumed that the overall expenditure for the construction to be completed
will be about M240 million,” he said, adding that they need to work very hard as the government to avoid projects that go beyond the stipulated timeframe
because they have a negative impact on the budget. SIGMA Construction Managing Director (MD) Napo Makara told Informative Newspaper that the museum is 85% complete and they hope by the end of 2022
it will be fully completed. “A lot has been done, the only remaining work is internally; to install tiles on the floor and ceiling,” Makara said. DNT Architect Ntšiu Ntlatlapa briefed Informative Newspaper on how the idea of building the museum came
about, he said in1998 Lesotho government made an announcement that it desires to build a museum. Southern African Development Community (SADC) architects
were then invited to compete, and in 1999 Ntlatlapa’s company won the tender. He said their presentation concept were based on Basotho historical houses (Lekhalakharetsana,
mokorotlo and mekhoro). “Initially the roofing was supposed to be roofed of grass but due to some disadvantageous the roofing was made of stones. This museum is designed in a way that it will easily accommodate everyone normal and disabled, the toilets also cater for people in wheelchairs and there are elevators,” he informed.
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