KZN ROAD CONSTRUCTION SUCCESSES HIGHLIGHTED DURING CONSTRUCTION WEEK



FROM LEFT - KZN Transport Department General Manager for Strategic Planning: James Mlawu, Head of Department: Kwazi Mbanjwa and General Manager for Implementation: Chris Hlabisa together with construction workers inspecting a construction site as part of the commemoration of construction week.

  

KZN Department of Transport Head Dr. Kwazi Mbanjwa has expressed much optimism about future development in KwaZulu-Natal. This optimism was clearly demonstrated as the provincial Transport Department commemorated National Construction Week (27 July to 3 August) and visited strategic road construction projects in the province.

KwaZulu-Natal is regarded as a leader in the country when it comes to training, promoting and engaging emerging contractors in the road construction industry. During a special documentary on SABC's Channel Africa Mbanjwa said that KZN was in the process of reaping the fruits of the KZN Transport Department's vision of 'Prosperity through Mobility.' "Through the Department's black economic empowerment programme known as Vukuzakhe we have discovered many new road builders in the province who come from the previously 

disadvantaged sectors of society, including black women," he said. "As the country is highlighting the importance of the road construction industry without which there can be no development, we are proud of the fact that whereas in the past one contract would be awarded to one established construction company, we are now able to award one contract to several emerging contractors and achieve the same results," Mbanjwa explained.

"The emerging contractors are able to produce the same quality of work, and moreover the work is shared amongst different companies as opposed to just one big company," he added. He said that in commemorating Construction Week, senior departmental officials from the KZN Department of Transport had visited various projects that the Department started at community level to see what the emerging contractors were doing, with the intention of identifying problems experienced on site and to see what can be done to resolve them. "Our main aim is to ensure that we do not compromise on quality of the work," he pointed out.

The projects that were visited or acknowledged on Channel Africa included:

  • The recently-launched multimillion rand Sani Pass road upgrading project being
    undertaken in conjunction with the national Department of Transport;

  • The upgrading of Main Road 577 which is part of the Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK) project that has been identified as a presidential node and of which the first phase was officially opened recently.

  • Strategic economic routes and corridors in KwaZulu-Natal which were identified for upgrading such as Main Road 235 (P235) from Hlabisa to Nongoma.

  • The Tale of Four Cities project - a corridor that links the major KwaZulu-Natal cities of Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Ulundi and Richards Bay.

  • Main Road 68 from Mtentweni to Highflats.

These are just some of the key projects which will contribute to the growth and development of KwaZulu-Natal and lead to economic prosperity. There are approximately eight of these strategic economic routes and corridors that have been targeted for development. Mbanjwa said Construction Week was also about celebrating the achievements of the KZN Transport Department which has
been able to ensure that emerging contractors share in the road construction business contracts awarded in the province.

He explained: "We are unbundling these contracts and instead of getting big companies to do all the work, we are engaging emerging contractors who do almost 50% of the work that would have been done by one established company. For example, 50% of the R520 million earmarked for the Main Road 577 project will be earned by emerging contractors."

He said his Department was already compiling a data base of experienced and competent emerging contractors in preparation for the construction work that is due to happen as the country prepares to host the 2010 World Cup. "There is a stadium and an airport that is to be built in this province and emerging contractors need to be used.

"These emerging contractors must be supported and we have olicies in place to ensure that they are involved in whatever government is doing. These visits
have afforded us the opportunity to identify the calibre of contractors we have and who we could call upon to tender for future projects because we are talking of billions of rands, not just millions," he said.

"All the established contractors started small; they did not start at the top. They grew in time after getting the necessary experience and opportunities to do bigger projects," he said.

"Our emerging contractor programme only started in 1998 but already we have produced people who are now exiting the programme, and they can go and tender for bigger projects. We had a backlog of about 12 000 kilometres of road in the province and to date we have completed over 7 000 kilometres of this backlog," he added.

He concluded: "We want good roads leading to the stadiums in 2010. What we observed in Germany is that about 70 000 people per match go to the stadiums, but the big screens attract up to 700 000 - so the roads must be good so that people can enjoy the matches in 2010. We want to make ensure that our public transport system is effective, including maritime and aviation. Our road infrastructure must also be up to standard."

 

 

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