COMPLAINTS OVER NEW E30M ROAD

MOTSHANE – The E30 million Motshane-Sigangeni Road project leaves a lot to be desired.

The current state of the road has resulted in a team from Motshane Inkhundla being sent to register complaints with the Ministry of Public Works and Transport. Last week, the Times SUNDAY learnt that they met the office of the ministry’s chief roads engineer in Mbabane, where they questioned the quality of the road. Complaints about the 6.5km road, which has a budget of E30 million, have emerged even before the contractor’s handover of the infrastructure to government. The contractor is Roots Civils (Pty) Ltd. It was contracted by government to construct the Motshane-Sigangeni Road (D78). Roots Civils (Pty) Ltd was awarded the tender to upgrade D78 Road to a single-seal standard in the same way Siphocosini-Sigangeni Road was paved.

In 2021, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport invited suitably qualified local contractors for the D78 Motshane-Sigangeni Road construction. The deadline for submissions was not  later than November 12, 2021. Completed tender documents were submitted under a sealed bid with tenderers’ name and addresses. The tender was valid for 90 days calculated from November 12, 2021. Roots Civils (Pty) Ltd won the bid to design and build the road. It could not be reliably established when the project began, but impeccable sources said it has already exceeded the completion date by three months. The delay might have been caused by inclement weather. Meanwhile, the residents were reportedly taken aback when they heard that the contractor was winding up at a time when they thought it was yet to put a relatively strong seal on this low volume road.

They were unhappy that the road did not have road markings and proper drainage systems, resulting in cracks and water seepage damaging the infrastructure. Representatives of residents from Ekupheleni, Motshane and surrounding areas made it clear that there was no way a budget of E30 million could not be enough to build a good road for them. The Times SUNDAY toured the road on Thursday.

developing potholes

It is bumpy and it is already developing potholes in some parts. It was raining when the newsmen toured it. Water floods the road when it is raining. In many parts of the road, there are some ‘pools.” Drivers sought alternatives as they did not want to drive through the waterlogged parts of the road. The rainy weather also causes pavement problems. Water is scattered as the vehicles pass through the puddles of water. Thulani Mkhaliphi, the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said he was out of the country while Vincent Buhle Dlamini, the Chief Roads Engineer, was on leave. To the best of his knowledge, he said the contractor had not finished work. “The contractor should be on site,” he said.
Mkhaliphi assured the residents that their complaints, as taxpayers, would be addressed. In case the road was indeed bad or poorly done, the PS, who also serves as the ministry’s controlling officer, pointed out that government was also to blame.

He said the ministry would also have to take the blame because it dispatched its engineers to supervise the construction of D78 Road. “As a ministry, we have to take responsibility as well,” the PS said. He also assured the residents and all emaSwati in the country that he would take part in the inspection of the road to see if the concerns were genuine. Since he has returned to work, the PS urged them to also visit him. Rueben Msibi, the Managing Director of Roots Civils (Pty) Ltd, said protocol did not allow him to talk about government projects.
He said his company was hired by government and it would be unethical of them to speak on behalf of the ministry. Motshane MP Wilton Nkambule confirmed that the Inkhundla team, as mandated by residents, met to discuss the condition of the road. He said they inspected it and interviewed one engineer for the contractor who was honest enough to also question the quality of the single-seal on the road.

complaints

MP Nkambule said he heard that the Indvuna for Motshane Inkhundla led a delegation to Mbabane to formally register complaints about the poor condition of the public road. He said the road should have no problems because the contractor was still on site by the time they inspected it. “You don’t necessarily need to be an engineer to see that a road is not good.” MP Nkambule said. He said people complained bitterly about the budget of the road. After hearing that government set aside E30 million for it, they felt the money was enough to build a good road with excellent drainage systems. He said one of the engineers told them that cow dung was also harmful to the single seal. The MP said they were advised that cow dung released some sort of a chemical that damaged the road.

Initially, he said, they were made to understand that the same quality applied to the Sigangeni-Siphocosini Road would be utilised for the D78 Road. He said the Sigangeni-Siphocosini Road was far better than the Motshane-Sigangeni Road. A source in the engineering discipline also inspected the road and came back to this publication with a report. The engineering professional said the ministry would have to withhold what he termed as a practical completion certificate. He said government ensured that defects were fixed before issuance of the certificate. The engineer mentioned that it was valid for 12 months. Within 12 months after completion date, he said the contractor was bound to rectify the defects at its costs. The taxpayer under these circumstances, he advised, was not obliged to pay for the fixing of the defects.

According to the source, there were also performance security and retention fees, which government withheld until the contractor commissioned a quality road built in accordance with specifications. He said the retention was 10 per cent of the total cost of the project, while the performance security was five per cent. The engineer further advised that this money could be used to fix the road in case the contractor was willing to return to site and address the challenges. The nature of the contract government entered into with Roots Civils (Pty) Ltd is called ‘Design and Build’.

Single-seal

It has been established that the single-seal is an improved road infrastructure as compared to probase, but lower in standard than asphalt.  A single or single sprayed seal is named so to demonstrate that it consists of a single layer of binder, covered by a single layer of aggregate. On the other hand, probase thought to be an environmental-friendly water-based sealant that is significantly easy to apply by just spraying the soil sealant onto the soil surface using a spray pump. It involves the mixing of probase chemicals, with soil in order to strengthen and harden the soil. The road is then sealed with a probase sealant and stone chips. It is said that it provides dust and mud free environment, lessens water penetration into the soil, protects soil surface from erosion, wear and tear and increase lifespan of the road. About eight years ago, the Eswatini Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a probase company of Malaysia, to construct a six- kilometre road from Buka to Mdzimba.

The MoU was signed on August 18, 2014. It became a foundation for government to consider paving a rural road network of 200km with the chemical stabiliser, known as probase.
A loan of E1.6 billion was secured for the project. It must be said that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport opted for the single-seal after members for the 11th Parliament had described the probase project as a waste of public funds. The Times of Eswatini reported that the loan was to be sourced from Probase Swaziland (Proprietary) Limited. Probase Swaziland (PTY) Limited is a local company registered in September 2015, under the directorship of Seow Cheng Soon and Yen Cheng Soon. It was provided in the Loan Bill that the project was meant to upgrade the various low volume unpaved roads in the country, totalling 200 kilometres. Former Hhukwini MP Nkhanyeti Ngwenya was among the MPs who raised concern over the structural defects of the roads paved with probase. He said the chemical stabiliser was a waste of money, as it looked unsuitable for Eswatini roads. He feared what could turn out to be an abysmal state of the roads after the rains had washed them off.

upgrading

The former MP complained about the potholes on the roads paved with the chemical stabiliser. Mabulala Maseko, now the Minister of Public Service, asked Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, the then and current Minister of Public Works and Transport if his portfolio was not considering alternative options for upgrading the country’s rural roads. “When you visit Lwandle and some areas of Maphalaleni, you are dumbfounded at the fast pace of roads deterioration,” he said. He asked the minister if he was not considering the single layer tar. The MPs also called for the cost analysis of probase against the single layer tar. At that time, the road tarred with probase were less than five years old. Patching road surface breaks was a common feature along the Buka-Mdzimba-Etiyeni-Gobholo Road network. This is the case with the Nkoyoyo-Mpolonjeni Road. The Nkoyoyo-Mpolonjeni Road, was not, at that time, as bad as it was the case with the condition of the Buka-Mdzimba-Etiyeni-Gobholo Road.

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