By Sikhulile Dlamini
Mbabane– Engineers in Action (EIA), sister company to Microprojects, have completed 23 bridges in Eswatini so far.
The organisation is focusing on building bridges in communities that are in need of the service around the country. It has also started piloting water for schools and has recently launched one in Matfuntini Primary School in Herefords, under Mayiwane Inkhundla in the Hhohho Region.
When interviewed, EIA Programmes Manager Ana Jovanovich highlighted that they completed these projects in cooperation with its main stakeholders, which were Microprojects, which is under the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and the local communities.
“The model is that EIA and Micro projects supply the material, design, expertise and international labour, while communities need to contribute 10 percent of the total worth of the project such as river sand, collecting rocks and building with us. This enables the feeling of ownership over these bridges,” Jovanovic said.
She further elaborated on the fact that these bridges lasted up to 50 years, so they wanted to make sure that communities who benefitted maintained the infrastructure on their own. The EIA started in 2017 and they are team of six people. Jovanovich emphasised on that they worked on principles of sustainability and education.
