BY MBONGENI NDLELA
MBABANE – ‘YOU BEAUTY YOU’……the Eswatini government has added another road infrastructure that Emaswati can, and will definitely, brag about.
This is the Manzini Golf Course Interchange that has cost taxpayers USD37.53 million. The project began in 2018 and is expected to complete this year.
Government has today stated that Emaswati will drive along this road in two months’ time, September following that it is now 94 percent complete.
“Upon completion, the Interchange will help ease traffic flow into and out of Manzini City,” stated government on its website.
When giving a background of the project in its January Project Appraisal Report, the African Development Bank stated that the project location at the Manzini Golf intersection represents a node along the country’s only east-west corridor serving both urban and regional transit traffic.
“At peak hours, traffic exceeds 20 000 vehicles per day leading to congestion. The project will involve the upgrading of the junction to a grade-separated interchange at an estimated cost of USD 37.53 million (UA26.244 million) to be implemented over 38 months (2018-2022). Project funding comprises a Loan from ADB USD 30.02 million (UA 21.15 million) and Counterpart Funding from the Kingdom of Eswatini USD 7.51 million (UA 5.29 million),” the report stated.
The project components include:
– infrastructure investments and technical support;
– (ii) Project Management; and (iii) Cross-cutting measures. The general population in the cities of Manzini and Matsapha will directly benefit from efficient and safe transport that will enable urban dwellers to access social economic services and job opportunities. The intersection will enable easy and efficient access by taxis, cars, and other public transport in the urban environment as well as facilitate freight traffic to commercial and industrial sites. At the national level, the intersection provides easy access to the new international airport serving the entire population. From a regional dimension, the improved intersection will benefit transit traffic between Mozambique and South Africa.
