Tonota Sub-District Chairperson Christian Machokoto has expressed concern over contractors who are failing to deliver road projects in the district timeously.
Machokoto was addressing a full council meeting which was held virtually last week.
One of the projects that is giving him sleepless nights is the Tonota- Mabesekwa road re-gravelling which is tendered at the sum of P15 806 448.00. It is currently at 49 percent progress against the 100 percent completion stage.
“The contractor is totally not doing well and a recommendation for a termination has been forwarded to Roads headquarters in the Ministry of Transport and Communications,” he said.
He also said another contractor who is doing a fencing project for the Tonota-Serule A1 Road which is done at a tender sum of P3 156 045.20, is currently at 65 percent progress.
He expressed disappointment as he said the contractor is failing to deliver the project. Machokoto said another recommendation for termination against this contractor has been forwarded to the Ministry of Transport and Communication.
He however said a project for the rehabilitation of Motloutse bridge which was damaged by the floods is progressing well.
“This project is done at a tender sum of P4 148 390.74 and it is currently at 48 percent completion stage. With regards to grading of gravel roads, a total of 273 kilometres of gravel roads has been graded. These includes Mabesekwa – Lekoba which is 34 km, Mabesekwa Kgoronyane 31 km, Mandunyane – Shashe Mooke – Mathangwane 59 km, Mathangwane- Makobo – Natale 28 km and Serule Gojwane road which is 14 km,” he added
Touching on roads that are currently managed by the district council he said a project for the restoration of a culvert on Manyanda-Leomboko which is budgeted at an amount of P1 600 000.00 is currently at a tender stage. He said the engineers are working around the clock to make sure that a project of high quality is delivered within stipulated time. Concerning internal roads grading, Machokoto said the sub district has three graders and two are currently on the road while the other one has broken down and it is being repaired.
“One grader is allocated to Shashe West constituency and grading has been done in all villages of the constituency except Mabesekewa. The grader allocated to Tonota constituency spent sometimes off but has now been repaired and it is engaged in the grading of some roads within Tonota village,” Machokoto said.
Meanwhile the Chairperson expressed disappointment on the rise of child abuse cases in the district. He revealed that the district has recorded 71 cases of child protection cases that include teenage pregnancy, defilement, rape as well as child neglect. He said these social ills have adverse impact on the development of a child physically, emotionally and spiritually.
“In most cases such children are susceptible to poor performance in their education leading to drop outs from school and failure. Let us join hands with other stakeholders to fight this situation to protect these future leaders of this country. The Social Welfare and Law enforcement personnel cannot afford to combat these social ills alone without our support,” he said.
