Spaghetti Junction contractor to up the pace

Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Tuesday February 2, 2016 16:04

The project commenced in the third quarter of 2015 and is expected to be complete in August 2016.

Speaking during a tour by Transport and Communications minister, Tshenolo Mabeo, Wang Hong Jiang, an agent of the contractor, China Railways Seven Group, said work was presently behind schedule.

Jiang said the project had been delayed by the relocation of services belonging to the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited (BTCL), Botswana Fibre Networks (BoFiNet) and Water Utilities Corporation (WUC).

“For instance, BTCL took almost six months to move their services even though they were well informed of the construction of the interchange and were paid well in advance to move their infrastructure,” he said.

Jiang said work was also hindered by the migration of Somerset East residents who delayed to move away from the construction area. He said efforts would be made to increase manpower and resources to make up for the delay.

Jiang explained that 79 more citizens would be added to the current labour force of 317 and overtime would be introduced so that the project is delivered on time.

“We are going to add more resources and machinery to finish the project and complete it within the expected time,” he said. Mabeo expressed surprise that few workers were on site during the tour and urged the contractor to increase manpower in order to meet the completion date.He said the delays should have been resolved well on time as the contractor was aware that they were going to build the junction in a built-up area. “I am getting worried because when you say you were delayed by relocation of services, you knew that there were services before agreeing on the time period of the project,” said Mabeo.

He advised the contractor to increase productivity, saying Batswana were patiently waiting for the Spaghetti junction, which will resolve traffic congestion in the city.