Lijeng Ranooe
THE Roads Directorate (RD) and Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for a strategic partnership to ensure that the two parties will consult each other to avoid duplicating roles in new projects.
The MoA was signed at the headquarters of the Ministry of Public Works in Maseru.
RD Directorate General Moeketsi Matsepe and WASCO Chief Executive Officer Lehohonolo Manamolela signed on behalf of their respective organisations.
The main objective of the MoA is to formulate and agree on the manner of dealing with applications of approval to work or lay water and sewerage infrastructure for the construction, maintenance and protection of roads.
Speaking at the signing, Mr Matsepe said, “The MoA will serve as a guideline that both entities will use to identify possible areas of cooperation”.
“It will also serve to improve our dealings regarding WASCO services in the roads as it enables engagement on handling and processing of applications for approval to work or lay water and sewerage infrastructure within the road reserve.
This partnership will allow RD to better manage road infrastructure assets in a sustainable manner,” he said.
The MoA is not only meant to provide guidelines for both organisations and identify areas of cooperation, it also seeks to clearly define and set out the roles and responsibilities of both organisations.
The MoA also seeks to address the strained working relations between WASCO and RD owing to the existing system where WASCO applies to RD for permission to start works within the roads reserve and the RD gives approvals which specify methods of reinstatement and traffic management plans.
The MoA further stipulates that the RD shall ensure that proper policies are available and that design guidelines are reviewed to take into account for services of sleeves through urban settlements.
The sleeves refer to encasements on the land pipes which shall be made of structurally strong material. For its part, WASCO shall comply with the agreed methods and procedures outlined in management plans as approved by RD.
WASCO CEO, Mr Manamolela expressed gratitude saying the collaboration would be beneficial and make the maintenance and development of projects easier.
He advised the two parties to keep open lines of communication on issues of mutual interest.
Mr Manamolela also called on the public to care for the environment and use resources efficiently.