Africa-Press – Mauritius. The Minister of National Infrastructure and Community Development, Mr Mahendranuth Sharma Hurreeram, made an overview of the achievements of his Ministry during the year 2022 as regards construction of drains, roads, and flyovers across the country, today, during a press conference held at the seat of his Ministry in Port Louis.
He indicated that during the year, 309 drain construction works have been completed, 237 are ongoing and 70 are in the tendering stage. He recalled that there are 306 high risk zones in Mauritius among which 67 are high-risk flood prone areas adding that the Ministry faces a lot of obstacles in the acquisition of land for the construction of drains.
He therefore appealed to the population to allow the Ministry and the National Development Unit to implement drain construction works on their land if needed.
He also said that many house constructions are carried out along natural drainage paths which lead to flooding such as in Morcellement Ramlugun in Vallée des Prêtres.
Minister Hurreeram stated that the Land Development Authority in collaboration with the University of Mauritius have offered courses to Officers from Local Authorities who grant building and construction permits so that they are better equipped to explain to the population how to construct to enable the proper evacuation of rainwater.
Speaking about projects undertaken by the Road Development Authority, he expressed satisfaction that the decongestion plan of Phoenix has been completed, with flyovers at Pont Fer, Jumbo, Dowlut, and Palmerstone being fully operational. He added that around the country, bridges have been rehabilitated namely Pont L’Avenir, St Denis at Chamarel, Pont Souillac, and Mt Ory.
The newly reconstructed 1.4 km B104 Road linking Chamarel to Case Noyale which will provide a major connection between the western coast and the central plateau of Mauritius thereby facilitating access to residents, commuters and visitors was also recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Jugnauth, he added.
As regards major road decongestion projects to be implemented this year, Minister Hurreeram stated that the construction of a Grade Separated Junction at Wooton has started in September 2022.
The Grade Separated Junction project at Wooton is part of the concept review and traffic management plan to improve the Northbound-Southbound and Southbound – Northbound through traffic and to reduce traffic congestion and travel time along Motorway M1 and Quartier Militaire Road (B6) on both sides of the interchange at Wooton through uninterrupted traffic flow, he said.
Furthermore, he underlined that a flyover at Ebène is under construction to facilitate traffic from Ebène to Rose Hill and Quatre Bornes. Other projects include: Verdun flyover in St Pierre, construction of road linking La Brasserie to Beau Songes and Flic en Flac, flyover at Quai D, and flyover A1 to M1 linking Coromandel to Sorèze through motorway M4.
He highlighted that other projects undertaken by his Ministry include the construction of the New Police Headquarters at Abercrombie in St Croix, the Victoria Urban terminal, and projects in the educational and health sectors.
As regards Citizen Advice Bureaux, he said that 36 are operational including one in Rodrigues. They have been open during 157 days only this year due to COVID-19 and some 35 000 requests have been received, he added.
Mr Hurreeram also dwelt on the Construction Industry Development Board (CIBD) and stated that Government is coming up with the creation of a Construction Industry Authority which will bring together different stakeholders from the construction industry under an apex body. The CIDB and the Building Control Advisory Council will be merged so as to ensure better collaboration between different stakeholders, he said.
For More News And Analysis About Mauritius Follow Africa-Press
