Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road
... in readiness for His Majesty King Mswati III’s 56th Birthday to be held this Friday
MBABANE – Following years of delay in the construction of the controversial Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road, it is safe to say that the road is near completion.
This would bring the much needed relief to the taxpayer, as the road, which was initially budgeted to cost around E465.99 million but so far has cost the taxpayer about E1.2 billion.
The road construction is currently under Inyatsi Construction Limited, which entered into an E621 million, public private partnership (PPP) with government for the completion of the road.
Of note, following the concerns raised regarding the alleged mismanagement of funds by the previous contractor, Parliament issued a directive for a forensic audit on the project through the Auditor General’s Office.
The report which was reportedly finalised in early 2023 is yet to be tabled in Parliament for debate and adoption.
The 43.5km-long Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road in the southwest is part of the main road network of Eswatini and provides an important connection between agricultural areas and urban centres. Works carried out under the project include upgrading the gravel Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road with a bitumen surface, designed to accommodate speeds of 100km/hour, installation of culverts, and construction of bridges over the Mkhondvo and Ndlotane rivers.
Both rural and urban populations will benefit from enhanced local, intra-regional and international exchange of goods, as well as from improved access to social amenities. Additionally, owing to the scenic nature of the region, tourism is expected to rise, thus increasing employment and business opportunities.
The completion of the road is timely, taking into consideration that during the budget speech, the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, pronounced that in this financial year, government has prioritised the completion of all pending capital projects, including the Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road.
During the delivery of the speech, the minister pointed out that government recognised the need for infrastructure development to meet transportation and access to services needs for the nation.
He said over the years, significant investment has been made in developing public infrastructure including several roads, office buildings, railway lines and residential blocks, to mention a few.
The minister said with the passage of time, growing usage and an increase in the population, wear and deterioration has come to be the prominent feature of such infrastructure. “Government recognises the need for improved maintenance on government infrastructure in general and additional funding for maintenance has been provided in this year’s budget,” he said.
Adding, Rijkenberg said in line with the national development agenda, the current financial year’s budget will address social challenges, build infrastructure and provide for economic growth.
“To attain this growth, we will be prioritising the completion of existing capital projects and spending in excess of E1billion more on capital infrastructure, compared to the previous financial years actual spend,” he said.
Major projects to be completed include the International Convention Centre (ICC), the Manzini-Mpandze Highway, the Mpandze-Mbandlane Highway, the Nhlangano-Sicunusa Road, the Manzini Golf Course Interchange, LUSIP Phase II, the Biotechnology Park, Buhleni Police Station and the Shiselweni Network Reinforcement projects.
Meanwhile, during his recent tour of the under-construction Jonsson Workwear Factory, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo also said the completion of the road was timely with the anticipated completion of the factory.
Information gathered by Times SUNDAY is to the effect that the completion of the construction work was projected for this month in time for the King’s Birthday celebration, which will be held in Mankayane this Friday.
This was confirmed by Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Chief Roads Engineer, Vincent Dlamini, who relayed that the completion of the road was expected projected to be done before the end of this month. He, however, said the current rains which have been intensifying were a cause for concern.
“The rains which have been intensifying have been disturbing the construction
work as work has been halted sometimes resulting in loss of valuable time,” he said.
He said they remained hopeful that the rains would let up so they could complete the construction this month as previously planned. He noted that the rains were more than expected as at this time of the year, which could be attributed to climate change. Dlamini confirmed that a majority of the construction work had been completed and the only remaining part was the installation of road signage, road markings, grassing of slopes to prevent soil erosion, fencing and cleaning of side drains.
Adding, Dlamini also mentioned that it was highly possible that the construction of the road would be completed before the King’s Birthday . “It is possible and highly likely that we complete works by April 19th and we just hope that by that time all that is significant for a road to be drivable all the way from Nhlangano to Sicunusa would be completed by then,” he said.
It has been reliably gathered that the Ministry of Public Works and Transport remains optimistic that it was highly possible for the road to be completed before Friday.
The most recent projected completion date was set for December 2023; however weather conditions prevented the road from being completed as projected.
During a recent tour of the road by the Times SUNDAY, it was observed that a majority of the road work was completed and only aesthetics such as road markings, fencing as well as storm water drainage construction were left. All the major bridges have been successfully completed the last being the Mkhondvo Bridge located at Jabulani.
The contractor was hard at work at various locations where final touch ups were being made.
Residents interviewed along the road have also expressed their excitement and gratitude to government for the visible improvement that shows that completion is near as they were now able to travel conveniently.
They, however, urged government through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, to speed up the erection of the fencing along the road to avoid traffic accidents as well as the construction of speed humps, particularly in areas near schools and shopping complexes.
It was also observed that the entire road had been open to traffic following the completion of the major works and motorists are mow free to use the road. For instance, the section between Sicunusa, Mahhusha and Magubheleni the construction has been completed.
However, some sections of the road, particularly those between Magubheleni and Gege, which is part of the section that was partially completed by the initial contractor, Gabriel Couto/ Kukhanya Joint Venture, there were no road markings and signage.
Further in some areas, waiting rooms were already being installed as public transport and private motorists were using the road.