Nkomazi-Motshane roadworks on track

PIGG’S PEAK – Hard at work.

This is what Inyatsi Construction Company workers and some government officials are doing on the damaged road towards northern Hhohho.

The workers are fixing the damaged section of the Nkomazi-Motshane Highway (MR1). The road was extensively damaged about 100 metres before the Nkomazi Bridge. The damage was caused by a rusted culvert, according to Senior Engineer in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Menzi Mbingo. A culvert is a drainage tunnel under a road or railway line. Mbingo said the culvert had been exposed to elements such as water and oxygen, resulting in the damage. He noted that the road construction should be completed by the end of February 2021.

Rainfall

The work on the road has continued to progress smoothly despite the continuous rainfall throughout the country. The contractor has managed to put the culvert under both sides of the road while the traffic has been diverted to one side.

Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary

(PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Thulani Mkhaliphi, noted that the construction was still on track to meet the deadline date, stating that progress was running smoothly.

Along the same road, other openings on the road have appeared. One of the openings is about three kilometres away from the Nkomazi Bridge. The opening, however, is also being attended to by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport workers.

The Chief Roads Engineer, Vincent Dlamini, said that the ministry was made aware of more openings on the road and that they were attending to them.

Meanwhile, public transport operators are also happy about the new developments. They said the openings on the road were dangerous, especially to the people using the road for the first time.

Hope Shiba, who is the secretary of the Local Kombis Association, said the road needed a complete revamping.

He said there was a huge risk for public transport operators because their vehicles transported large numbers of people and travelled on the road often.

(Pics: Sithembile Hlatshwayo) One of the failing roads being prioritised by government to fix along the highway at Makholokholo where retaining walls are collapsing. (R) Another failing road at Siphocosini kaNyama, which government will be fixing.

(Courtesy Pics) The damaged culvert which has since been replaced. (R) An arrow showing the location of the Nkomazi Bridge.