200m foot bridge to be constructed in Francistown, Botswana

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A 200m foot bridge is set to be constructed in Francistown, Botswana between Somerset Extension and Block 2 locations. According to Acting Francistown town clerk, Mr Lawrence Mazinyane, the bridge would be convenient for the residents of the two wards who have periodically crossed Tati-river to the other side to access services.

“The city council has already engaged a company to do environmental impact survey but the preliminary design of the bridge has delayed due to COVID-19,” he said while briefing the Minister of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism, Ms Phildah Kereng. However, he said that he is anticipating the design to be completed by April 14th this year adding that the submission of the design will determine the construction period.

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The overall budget

Minister Phildah Kereng said that the overall budget for the bridge would be arrived at once the survey, the design report and the scope of work were done. She also urged residents to consider utilising available space around the proposed site to set up projects such as picnic spots, restaurants, tourists’ sites, shopping malls, sports fields as well as photographic areas which could assist spin money for the community.

For his part, Member of Parliament for Francistown South, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi urged all stakeholders not to work in silos, but to collaborate their efforts to make sure the planned bridge was a success. “We need a long term approach to development. The bridge should be constructed such that it will be useful and robust even in the next 30 years,” he said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism, Dr Oduetse Koboto, said that the role of the ministry was to identify how far the plots were from the proposed site and devise modalities of compensation to people who would be affected by the development.