Mohloai Mpesi
THE newly constructed Mpiti to Sehlabathebe Road in Qacha’s Nek will aid in reducing?rampant stock theft in that district, Prime Minister Sam Matekane has said.
The premier made the remarks during the launch of the 91km tarred road on Friday.
Named the Makhaola-Lerotholi Highway by His Majesty King Letsie III, the M2.1 billion road which passes by Lesotho’s landmark?Sehlabathebe National Park, was partly funded by the Chinese government which contributed M1.4billion (66percent) with the remainder coming from the government.
The project is another testament of the strong relations and bonds between China and Lesotho.? It speaks of the resolve of President Xi Jinping’s government to help African countries in meeting their development goals.
The road’s construction commenced on the 23rd of January 2019.
It was all smiles as the premier officially opened the seemingly protracted?project at Ha Matlali village in Qacha’s Nek on Friday.
The cloudy, windy and dusty day could not deter the community of Qacha’s Nek from attending the momentous occasion. They sat under white tents stretched to accommodate them.
Ululations and songs of praise filled the atmosphere as the villagers embraced the significant day.
Tsoelike Primary School students would later entertain the crowed with the traditional?Ntlamo?dance, while St Francis Primary School girls would dance the beautiful?Moqoqopelo?style and older women showcased the?Mokhibo. ?
Speaker of the National Assembly, Tlohang Sekhamane, Ministers of Local government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police Lebona Lephema, Public Service and Transport Matjato ?Moteane, Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition Thabo Mofosi and Environment, Letsema Adont?i, attended the occasion. Former Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, as well as the Chinese Embassy’s Charge d’ Affairs, Lyu Liangzhong, and his entourage were also in attendance.
According to Mr Matekane, the road will help security agencies to easily chase after thieves and recover stolen livestock. The road will also aid patients to swiftly access local health care centres on time to save lives.
He promised?the government would continue to build new roads as well as improve others.
“This road is important as it reaches the Ramatšeliso border gate. This means that business will run smoothly between Lesotho and South Africa, and products will reach the markets quickly,” he said.
“This road will also improve tourism in the Qacha’s Nek district as it will be easier to reach Sehlabathebe National Park, the park which has been identified as a World Heritage Site.
For his part, Mr Liangzhong said 1 500 local people had benefited through employment during the construction of the road. He said construction had nonetheless been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic and harsh weather conditions.
“This A class modern road is funded by a Chinese government concessional loan. It took about five years to upgrade it from a bumpy gravel to a smooth beautiful road.
“Everyone who came to the ceremony has experienced its high quality and high standards. It was indeed a long way full of difficulties and challenges including the three-year Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions.
“But with the joint efforts of all the participants in our two countries we finally made it.
“Where there is a will, there is a way. The completion and handover of the project in the country proves this saying,” he said.
“According to statistics, this single project has created 1 500 jobs to locals and?trained more than 300 technicians.
“I believe the completion of the road is going to make people travel more comfortably, increase the accessibility to Sehlabathebe National Park and promote economic and socio development of the region and beyond,” he said.
Mr Liangzhong added: “The road project proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 aims to enhance policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people to people connectivity, create new opportunity for global development and build a new platform for international economic cooperation.”
For his part, Mr Moteane hailed Mr Mosisili for starting the project during his tenure in office. He said the former premier had built over 600km of new road infrastructure in the country. Mr Matekane would continue from where he left, he said.
“All the roads that you have built make more than 600km. You have worked hard……,” Mr Moteane said to the former PM.
“You have left little space for Mr Matekane (to build new roads), unless he finds other places in Lesotho that we can start working on. What’s left now is that this road should connect from Sehlaba-Thebe to Makunyapane. The other one should start from here (Ha Matlali) through Milikane to Matebeng.
“The only remaining major road infrastructure will be from Thaba-Tseka to Mokhotlong. In total, Mr Matekane is tasked to tar the remaining 250km (of the outstanding roads),” he said.
The launch came just a week after the official opening of the M800million worth Maseru District Hospital and Eye Clinic, also funded by the government of China.
Mr Matekane opened the new state of the art facility, expected to reduce the number of patients referred to South Africa because it is also linked to China’s Wuhan No.1 Hospital for assistance with major surgeries.?
