Five lives lost since Nnywane Bridge closure
Pini Bothoko | Wednesday March 15, 2017 16:26
Mokaila said on Monday in Parliament that the report was confirmed by the accident statistics obtained from the Botswana Police Service (BPS).
This followed a question asked by Member of Parliament (MP) for Ramotswa, Samuel Rantuana who had wanted to know the number of lives lost on the alternative route since diversion after the collapse of the bridge.
He also asked when the Nnywane Bridge, along A1 road, is going to be repaired as the alternative route was too long and if the Minister was aware of the bad state of the alternative route through Mogobane, and if so, what he was doing about it.
Rantuana also questioned what the bus fare from Gaborone to Lobatse was when using the alternative route.
He raised concern that public transport operators were likely to lose business due to the long distance of the alternative road, which was also expensive for them.“I wonder if we were doing justice to the public transport owners by allowing them to use that long route with an increment of only P4.
That is a little amount looking at the distance of the route that the public transport operators were forced to use.”
Rantuana added: “When something like this happens in future, I suggest there be proper communication with all stakeholders involved to avoid a situation where one party will be mostly affected than the other”.
When answering, Mokaila said the structural strength assessment of the bridge would be started in April after which the repair works will commence.
He also conceded to be aware of the bad state of the alternative route, stating that it was due to the standard of design and construction of the road.
“The road was never designed to accommodate the density of traffic that it is being subjected to,” Mokaila said, adding that plans to close the potholes as well as improving the condition of the road were ongoing.
Mokaila said that the bus fare for Gaborone-Lobatse using the alternative route has not been revised as it remained the same as Gaborone-Lobatse without diversion.
“I have to point out that operators were charging an extra P4. However, my Ministry, through the Department of Roads, has alleviated public transport operators’ burden through the construction of a temporary bridge that was opened to both the public and buses on March 8, 2017,” Mokaila said.
The Nnywane River Bridge was closed for use for quite some time after it was completely ruined by heavy rains that resulted in floods in Ramotswa and surrounding areas early last month.
During the closure of the bridge, police cautioned motorists over the alternative road of Mogobane, stating that the road was busy with traffic hence the need for drivers to exercise caution when using the route.
The police also warned that the road was dangerous due to potholes, especially towards Ntlhantlhe, hence pleading with motorists to familiarise themselves with this road to avoid unnecessary accidents.