The Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Kgotla Autlwetse, has revealed that in the past financial year, his ministry squandered over P3 million trying to fix the dilapidated Mahalapye bus rank.
Autlwetse was responding to a question in Parliament today from the Member of Parliament Mahalapye West, David Tshere. The MP had asked among others how much government had spent on the remedial works and what does the government intend to do with the rank. In response Autlwetse stated that, “My ministry through the then Mahalapye Sub District carried out remedial works on Mahalapye Bus Rank at a total cost of P3, 215, 025.31 during the 2022/2023 financial year,” he revealed. The minister further stated that after P3 million was pumped into the remedial works, it did not solve anything as shortly after that the rank started to fail once more. “Upon completion of remedial works, the bus bays were opened for traffic and immediately developed structural failure,” he disclosed.
Autlwetse also revealed that after observing the structural failure of the rank once more, the contractor contacted Geotechnical Consultant to assess the cause of the failure and possible recommendations to fix the challenge. He indicated that consultants came through and the results were that: “The results revealed that the structural failure was caused by high moisture content due to shallow water table found at 1.8m resulting in high plasticity material,” he said. To his surprise he revealed that his ministry then contacted Geotechnics International Botswana (GIB) to fix the high moisture impediment.
It was also found that, ''there were no signs of high-water table or seepage from the results obtained from test trail pits that were investigated by then,” Autlwetse said. In order to preserve the already dilapidated rank, the minister highlighted that the council is already considering lessening the congestion on the rank. “Council will consider using the current site for light duty and short distance taxi and minibuses only due to limited area. The space adjacent to the bus rank will be marked properly to be used for long distance buses for dropping and picking passengers only,” Autlwetse indicated. Meanwhile, he stated that his ministry is also considering awarding a contract to a public private partnership company named Estate Properties to construct and operate the bus rank. He highlighted that talks are at advanced stage and the contractor will be handed the site before end of this financial year.
