The land expropriation and service relocation issues are causing delays in the progression of the Maun internal roads project which is behind schedule with 14%, standing at 64% actual progress behind planned 78%. These delays stem from negotiations with some plot owners, Landboard and utility relocation coordination.
A total of 73 properties is reported to have been affected by land expropriation to pave a way for the project, and among them 23 property owners have been compensated an amount over P6 million. A total of 44 properties are still outstanding compensation while two are waived for compensation.
The 25km internal roads project which comprises of 10km tarred roads and 15km of paved internal roads commenced in 24 March 2025 and it is expected to be completed in 23 December 2026. The project was awarded to Bigen SPV under the Development Manager Model at the contract value of over P372 million. The contractor for the project is RIC Development Botswana while Mmowe Consultants is the engineer.
Assistant Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Keogile Atamelang toured the project this week to track its progress and identify the challenges faced.
Giving an update on the progress, Mmowe Consultants Resident Engineer, Gagoomang Gaoetelwe explained that in overall, the project is behind schedule mainly because of issues relating to land expropriation. He stated that they could have attained now about 90% but the contractor has suspended works due to that process.
“We have engaged relevant land authorities including the Land Board and District Commissioner’s Office, and we are seeing a significant improvement in terms of our assistance in getting land,” he said.
Gaoetelwe noted they have also engaged other service providers such as Botswana Power Corporation and Water Utilities Corporation to assist them resolve issues of services relocation so that they don’t encounter delays.
“We are requesting that the relevant authorities such as BPC again delegate the sub-Contractor to this project so that we don’t encounter any delays. We also have pipelines that we are interacting with, water meters that have to be relocated to make way for the road so we have engaged WUC to assist us,” he said.
Gaoetelwe said that that with the input in place he believes that they will be able to attain progress on completion date in December despite all those challenges. According to Gaoetelwe, the works that are behind the schedule in the project are sub base and kerb fixing, storm water drains, asphalt surfacing, splash drains and paved walkways.
Gaoetelwe noted that the sub-Contractor has suspended works on the 1.8km road from Chobe via Wenela Kgotla to BDF road and the 1.6km road from Sedie JSS via Old Shorobe road to Route 10 road due to lack of access as a result of land expropriation. He however stated that the Contractor is to submit a revised catch up programme for approval by the Engineer.
Gaoetelwe said that other challenges facing the project include, shortage of G2 material, rainfall, and issues related to asphalt plant set-up, wayleave application.
The Maun roads project covers different wards in Maun including Boseja, Matlapana, Disana, Sedie, Moeti, Boronyane, Thamalakane and Tsanekona.
The project is divided into 11 sections and these include 3.2km road from Boseja Route 9 to Boseja Cemetery via Andrew Wellio P.S to Leapotswe joining A3 Road, and 2.6km road from Matlapana cycle to new plots. The 3.9km road from Matlapana cycle to Old borrow pit, and 3.5km road from old borrow pit to school for people living with disability (New Disana outlet).
The 2.3km road behind wildlife and 2.7km road from Sedie to Moeti East, 1.6km road from Sedie JSS via Old Shorobe road to Route 10 Road, and 0.8km road from Sir Seretse Khama Road to Research (Rise). The 1.6km road from Matlapana VDC to Shorobe Road (Crocodile Camp), the 1.0km road from Mapororo Church-Tsanekona 1, and 1.8km road from Chobe via Wenela Kgotla to BDF road.
Responding to issues related to land expropriation, Tawana Land Board Chairperson, Reamogetse Yakenge said that they have engaged DC’s office to resolve the issues. She noted that they intend to address the challenges that are in relation to land expropriation by engaging both the Contractors and property owners. According to Yakenge, the land expropriation process requires the Land Board to engaged property owners and inform them about the process.
For his part, Assistant Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Keoagile Atamelang said that the main objective of the visit was to track project progress and identify some of the challenges that they face. Atamelang stated that the challenges affecting the Maun internal roads project including land expropriation were similar to challenges affecting projects in other areas, citing that they will work together with other stakeholders to resolve the challenges.
