Frustration as Mpilo Boulevard remains un-cleared

MASERU – It’s been more than a month since a mudslide blocked the Mpilo Boulevard. Traffic has been diverted while the road is being cleared.

Previous mudslides around the same area have been cleared within a few days.

But this time the task appears too big for the joint venture hired to clear the rubble.

The joint venture is made up of three companies; Shanxi Construction Investment Group (SCIG), Shanxi Mechanical Construction Group (SMCG) and TIM Plant Hire.

The two Shanxi companies are Chinese-owned while TIM Plant Hire is owned by a Mosotho, Toloane Matekane.

It is the same joint venture that won the controversial M390 million tender to upgrade the Mpilo Boulevard.

The contractor appears to be struggling to break the huge rocks blocking the road.

Nothing much has changed since the mudslide. If anything, there seems to be more rubble.

While commuters are getting frustrated with the delay to clear and repair the intersection, the Maseru City Council (MCC) spokesperson, ’Makatleho Mosala, told thepost that everything was going according to plan.

Mosala said the contractor is “working at the right pace”.

“These companies are working at the right pace depending on the magnitude of the work done,” Mosala said.

She said heavy stones have to be crushed before being transported away.

Matekane refuted allegations that the joint venture does not have the capacity to do the job.

“There is nothing that is troubling us or that we find difficult,” Matekane said.

“The challenges are normal,” he said, adding that he was unable to specifically say when the job will be completed “because I’m not at the office and I don’t have my books with me”.

He however hinted that there could be money issues delaying the project.

“Yes, the main challenge could be not being paid on time or I can say not being paid as agreed,” he said, without elaborating.

Staff Reporter