R225M FOR THIS
Bhisho to look at what was achieved
NINE years after the department of roads and public works paid over R200-million to construct a 25km stretch of road between the tourist town of Coffee Bay and Mthaleni village, there is nothing to show for the money.
The department was changed to roads and transport in April this year.
Provincial spokeswoman Khuselwa Rantjie said over R224-million had been spent on the project so far.
Community activist Khathazile Ncamathela said there had been a protest march in 2009 over the state of the gravel road and then-public works MEC Pemmy Majodina, who has been redeployed back to the department, held a sod turning ceremony.
Ncamathela said there was one day when workers moved their tents to Coffee Bay but no work ever took place.
The community struggled when it rained as the road to schools and the hospital flooded. At times, he said, they had to carry sick or dead people in beds until they reached an area where a car could drive.
The 25km road was supposed to start in Coffee Bay and go via Mthonjane and Nzulwini to end in Mthaleni village.
When the Daily Dispatch team arrived at the site recently, there was no sign of workers, just a public works department truck spraying water on a gravel road that should have been tarred long ago.
Mqanduli Taxi Association chairman Wiseman Gxalathana said the road was a nightmare. “Our tyres last for maybe three months and we have to change them. Wheel alignment is also a problem. I really don’t understand what is taking so long.” He said the association had been told the road would be ready in 2010 in anticipation of tourists who would be in the country for the soccer World Cup.
Association secretary Elliot Madlamba said: “We don’t know what this government is doing to us. We have written letters and had meetings with the department. We continue to engage the government but nothing happens.”
Rantjie said the project had been commissioned in 2010 for a 5km stretch from Coffee Bay to Hole in the Wall Hotel.
“The project was implemented by the inhouse team of the then department of roads and public works.
“In doing the work, various companies were appointed for the provision of material required. Due to pressure in some parts of the region due to the road conditions, the in-house team was diverted to prioritise resealing of about 17km of road from Coffee Bay to Mqanduli.”
The Dispatch reported in May that premier Phumulo Masualle had commissioned private investigators to probe work done on 21 of 58 road projects where R632million had been spent between the 20132014 and 2015-2016 financial years.
None of the projects had been awarded through open tender bidding processes.
Bhisho awarded the contracts – which ranged from R391 000 to R110-million – using a deviation clause for “urgency” to fix some of the roads.
The report stated that some of the roads were tarred, yet, according to documents, they were re-graveled.
“To date about R224-million has been spent on the various aspects of the project,” Rantjie said. The project became intensive and there was a need for a camp, which cost R30-million.
Rantjie said the 5km project from Coffee Bay to Hole in the Wall Hotel was complete, but the Dispatch team saw patches of road of about 50m of tar in between the gravel road.
She said work was continuing on phase two of the project, a 10km upgrade from gravel to tar surface.
This project commences at Mdumbi Bridge to Hole in the Wall, she said.
Rantjie said phase three of the project is from the turn-off from the Hole in the Wall to Zithulele Hospital.
“A total of 39 companies were appointed since 2010-2011 to 2017-2018 financial years to provide various services, from security, ablution facilities, protective clothing, hiring of plant machinery, construction of roads, provision of asphalt, quarrying and crushing of stones amongst others,” Rantjie said.
The transport department, she said, was developing a transport infrastructure programme.
The department will ascertain what was intended and was achieved to date. Relevant remedies will be implemented where there is disjuncture to ensure projects respond to the needs of the people, she said.
Some residents told the Dispatch that the issue of their incomplete road was being investigated by the Hawks.
However, that could not be confirmed as Hawks provincial spokeswoman Captain Anelisa Feni failed to respond to questions e-mailed to her two weeks ago. Yesterday Feni could not be reached for comment. —