Ministry ready to help, when rains stop - PS

MANZINI - The Ministry of Public Works and Transport said its teams are already on the ground and as soon as the rains are over, will hit the ground running.

This is according to the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Thulani Mkhaliphi, who confirmed that the rains had damaged a lot of roads and bridges across the country.

“As we speak, we are not folding hands as a ministry as our teams are assessing the damage on the ground and we receive constant updates,” the PS said.

He said they would use the assessments to prioritise the road that they would start with. He said this was because some roads were badly damaged compared to others. He made an example with the bridge that was washed away by floods at

Maphiveni on Thursday night, stating that their team from the Lubombo Region was there trying to find means of alleviating the situation.

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Regarding Mgungundlovu Bridge under Ndzingeni Inkhundla, the PS said the contractor had not handed it over to government. However, he said since the damage was a result of unforeseen circumstances, they

were yet to engage the contractor.

It is worth noting that the country last experienced almost similar overflowing of rivers, dams and streams in January 2021 and this was when the country, among others, was hit by Cyclone Eloise.

Later on government allocated E40 million towards rebuilding houses for those affected by Tropical Cyclone Eloise as well as rehabilitating damaged infrastructure, including roads and bridges.