Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Letlhakeng Council faces court battle with contractor

The Kweneng District Council has suffered another setback in the construction of the Letlhakeng Infrastructure Development with one of the contractors who bid for the works taking the matter to the high court. The aggrieved contactor’s contract was supposed to have been signed sometime in May. The Chairperson of the District, Councillor Motlhophi Leo, said while presenting his speech marking the opening of the third session of the ordinary full council on Monday that as a law abiding council they then had to bear with all the delays coming up as a result of the litigation process.

“At the end of it all, I am happy to announce that our lawyers fought relentlessly to dismiss the case and successfully brought the matter to finality. We are now certain that the project will commence as the contract was signed on the 15th August 2013. The Letlhakeng Infrastructure Development project will be implemented at a cost of P162, 056,046.42 and has been awarded to Pre Con Construction PTY) LTD. Preparatory work has already started with the first activity being payment of compensation to people whose properties will be affected by construction works. This is a tedious exercise and I plead with esteemed Honourable Councillors from Letlhakeng to educate their electorates on the importance of paving way for the development, lest we suffer another delay.” Looking back to similar projects, Leo appealed to councillors to infuse the experience the council got from Thamaga infrastructure and avoid unnecessary impediments where possible. He said quite often, members of the public were accused of stealing rods apparently to use for fencing their ploughing fields. He asked councillors to encourage Letlhakeng community not to adopt this practice which stalled progress at the commencement of the Thamaga project done and completed within time and budget.

“I am fully aware that all of you are waiting patiently to hear exactly when the project will commence. The contractor will start mobilising during the first week of September 2013 and the project is expected to take up to the end of March 2016,” he said.

On Thamaga infrastructure development, Leo said the project is complete. It h as now been finalized. The contractor is currently making the final repairs to properties damaged during the construction period. As part of the stakeholders’ involvement, the Thamaga councillors were fully involved during the final stage of inspecting the damaged properties. The consultant is currently working on the final account and the project will then be closed.

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