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‘Madi a teng, ga re re re a go kopa’
- For Francistown to Maun and Maun to Shakawe roads
- Engagements with development managers starts in 2 weeks
- Construction will immediately follow
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has announced, during a Kgotla meeting in Masunga this week that the construction of the A3 road from Francistown to Maun, and from Maun to Shakawe is imminent, with the funds already available.
This as the roads, which connects the north eastern and southern part of the country to the tourism centre of Botswana has reached a deplorable state – and has been the cause of many accidents that claimed many lives over the years.
The road infrastructure is also being blamed for limiting investments into that area as its poor state always affect business operations sometimes leading to severe losses.
This is not the first time Masisi has made promises on the construction of these roads. Previously, he and his Vice Slumber Tsogwane were criticized for giving contradicting answers when asked about the reconstruction of the road.
This was after Masisi announced in 2019 that he had secured some funds for the roads from the Chinese government during a state visit, but later said his government had a change of heart after realising that the loan will be expensive for government to repay and instead they were going to use consolidated funds to fund the project.
It later turned out that government was no longer going to use the consolidated funds but it will instead do it through the public private partnership (PPP).
When addressing a Kgotla meeting in Masunga this week, President Mokgweetsi Masisi has assured that the funds for the reconstruction of the road are available noting that in the next coming two weeks they will start by engaging with development managers then the reconstruction will immediately follow-suit.
“A3 ya go dirwa, goya Maun ya go dirwa, go tswa Maun, go ya Shakawe, di a go dirwa. Madi a teng ga rere reya go a kopa, a teng! Go setse boitsanape hela, go setse boammaruri, go setse bonatla go setse go dira tiro ka nako. Rona mapolotiki re dirile tiro ya rona, re phuthile madi, re dira ditsholohetso tse re di le solofeditseng”
This loosely translates to, “the A3 road to Maun and from Maun to Shakawe is going to be done, the funds are there, we are not saying we are going to ask them they are there, all that is left is for experts, truth and the diligent and efficiency to do the job well on time. Us politicians we have done our job, we secured funds, we are fulfilling our promises,” assured the president.
Meanwhile, Masisi has assured that government will ensure that contractors engaged for the project does it diligently and complete it on the set deadline. He raised a concern about the constructors who are awarded such similar projects but fail to deliver them well on time warning that serious action will be taken against those.
