Govt secures P288m for transport project

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Thursday April 7, 2011 00:00

The project is a component of the P2.6 billion Botswana Integrated Transport Project that also involves capacity building, feasibility studies and infrastructure development. Other components include studies on the Trans-Kalahari, Mmamabula-Ellisras and Mosetse-Kazungula rail lines as infrastructure investment to ease greater Gaborone congestion.

The P288 million from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) will co-finance the rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of the Kanye roads project. Government and the World Bank will provide additional funding for this and other components of the transport project.

'The work cycle (for the Kanye project) will include all required activities in order to reach the designed level of service on the specific road network from engineering to the final users' satisfaction point of view,' reads a brief on the project.

In Parliament on Tuesday, Finance and Development Planning Minister Kenneth Matambo said the transport project's overall objective was to enhance the country's export competitiveness. Various researchers have singled out transport as a major disincentive to investment in Botswana.

'The transport project aims to enhance the efficiency of Botswana's transport system by building modern business management capacity, enhancing regional transport integration along the A1 road/rail corridor and by building critical transport infrastructure,' he said in seeking Parliament's approval of the loan.

'It is envisaged that the improvement in efficiency of the transport system will also increase Botswana's competitive edge and create opportunities for export diversification.'According to Matambo, other components of the transport project are all at pre-investment stage. He said the regional integration study of the A1 road/rail corridor would start in May and the pre-feasibility studies on the Trans-Kalahari Railway in May following which similar work would be done on the Mmamabula-Ellisras and Mosetse-Kazungula rail lines.

'Construction work on improvements to some intersections in Gaborone will be undertaken during 2011/12 financial year,' he said. 'The environmental impact assessment component of the project was completed in December 2008 and a total of three experts have been assigned to work at Roads Department as part of capacity building.'

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development is providing P1.2 billion for the transport project while government will finance the remaining P1.04 billion. The OFID loan will attract interest of 5.2 percent and is payable over 14 years with a grace period of four years.