(5 minutes read)
· The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has handed over eight road maintenance, rehabilitation and resurfacing projects in the Eastern Cape valued more than R1.6 billion to contractors
· The R30 billion worth of construction projects that form part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive for “shovel-ready” infrastructure development to stimulate the economy post Covid-19 is viewed as a strategy to kick-start the economy in a conceivably shorter time frame
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) has handed over eight road maintenance, rehabilitation and resurfacing projects in the Eastern Cape valued more than R1.6 billion to contractors.
The R30 billion worth of construction projects that form part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s drive for “shovel-ready” infrastructure development to stimulate the economy post Covid-19 is viewed as a strategy to kick-start the economy in a conceivably shorter time frame.
The projects awarded to different parties include a R653 million contract for the rehabilitation of the road from the N2 Nqadu to Mbokotwana River and Dan’s Place. The other is the R542 million contract for the upgrading of the Fort Beaufort to Alice road.
A R220 million contract for special maintenance of 35.3km of the R56 million Section 4 from the N6 to Dordrecht, a R83 million phase two contract for special maintenance on the Jansenville to the R63 million road and R65 million phase two contract for special maintenance on the Wolwefontein to Jansenville road are the other projects, among
others, which will be implemented soon.
However, the identity of the contractors who have been awarded these contracts was not disclosed by Sanral. The government expects the projects will create much needed employment in the short and medium
run.
The community benefits presented by the projects will include improved pedestrian and road safety, particularly in high traffic spots. These contracts account for about 5.5% of the R30 billion of construction contracts Sanral indicated earlier this month. Major projects are yet to be awarded, known as N3 projects, which will cost
over R1 billion each. It is expected these projects also would be awarded soon.
Sanral Engineering has, in the current financial year, advertised 278 maintenance, operations and construction projects worth about R30.2 billion. So far, it has awarded 136 projects to the value of R7.3 billion. Sanral also will roll out more than 200 additional road infrastructure projects across all nine provinces in the country,
which will impact directly on economic development, job creation and economic transformation. These initial projects are expected to create an estimated 275 700 jobs in six sectors: water and sanitation, energy, transport, digital infrastructure, agriculture and agro-processing and human settlements.
