In some places like Toromoja, the new road had extended the distance to the village from seven to 13km. This enraged the residents.
The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) this week gave the roads department permission to extend the engineering services for the tender for construction of Mopipi-Rakops Access Roads.
Senior roads engineer, Vanish Arya confirmed to Mmegi yesterday that the works have been divided into four components. He explained that the tenders for the access roads for Mopipi (4.5km), Xhumo (5km), and Rakops-Madikola (3.5km and 0.5 km) are to be floated before the end of June. He added that the three access roads would be tendered for by Grade B contractors.
He disclosed that the tender for the 11.5km Toromoja access road will be floated at end of July. It will be open to contractors in the Grade C and D category. "In the case of Toromoja, 8.5km will be to bituminise the gravel road from the Mopipi-Rakops main road to the village, while the remainder will be for the upgrading of the existing road," said Arya.
He explained that construction work on all the four components of the access road is expected to start in mid-September. He said the exclusion of the access roads from the main Mopipi-Rakops road project, was due to financial constraints.
"In 2005 we had tendered for these projects but had to forego them due to financial constraints. Now we have been able to source adequate funding," he explained.
Meanwhile, the main Mopipi-Rakops road that connects Orapa-Lethakane to Maun was completed and opened for traffic on April 21, Arya said. He added that road-markings would be completed by the end of this month.
The construction of the Mopipi-Rakops stretch was started in February 2005 and was due for completion last October. The six-month delay has seen the initial price tag of P98.1 million jumping to P104 million.
Arya, who is the Mopipi-Rakops project officer, attributed the delays to factors that included rainfall disruption, shortage of water and lateness in accessing the Xhumo quarry.
