Times Of Swaziland: DEFIANTLY CRUSHING VISION 2022

DEFIANTLY CRUSHING VISION 2022
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The Editor on 13/08/2018 08:42:00


Sir,
Kindly allow me Editor to express my disappointment in the Municipal Council of
Manzini for reinforcing our doubts as the public that the 2022 First World
vision will be a reality.
I was one of the few who remained optimistic of the ‘impending transformation
of Eswatini’, of course after witnessing breathtaking, contemporary and first
of its kind buildings mushrooming from city centres to the outskirts of the
country.
My assertion, however, was brought to an abrupt halt when I drove along Manzini
Central down to the Manzini Bus Rank about a week ago; on that neglected five
centimetre road stretch resembling a darts board after a tight competition.
Hopping from one donga to the next, hazily placed on either side of the road, I
felt insanely humiliated for bragging of a new Eswatini in three years time.
I wondered how possible was it to outpace the likes of Lesotho, Zimbabwe etc to
the First World if our town planners have difficulty maintaining a dot on a
hectare of land. That road is a nightmare, a turn-off and a total contrast to
Vision 2022. It reflects how ear-deaf Manzini town planners are to the vision.
Note, that Manzini town is a tourist site, therefore it should smell and mirror
the tranquility of our First World marathon from all corners, long before
touching on the rural areas. Should we the people who use buses and kombis go
there to fix that road?
Or should public transport drivers take it upon themselves to clear that in
order to save their vehicles from excessive unroadworthy charges orchestrated by
blunt town planners? Aren’t the public transport owners paying licence fees?
We cannot take it any longer, we demand that you, the Manzini Municipal Council,
repair those potholes urgently and widen the entrance and exit roads to the bus
rank to mitigate the busy hour traffic jam on that road.
Mndvoti Lokwatile
Note: In an effort to afford them a right to reply, this letter was emailed to
the municipality on August 1. Unfortunately there has been no response.
Ed