Major Developments for the North East District Headquarters: Masunga Infrastructural Development (Phase Iii)
Masunga Village is situated in the North East District of Botswana, approximately 100km north-east of Francistown (previously the district headquarters), and in 2001 it was reported to have a population of approximately 3000.
This objective has been pursued vigorously as seen by the provision and improvements of many social and community facilities such as schools, health facilities, roads, electricity, water supply and sanitation, telecommunications etc. A new landfill for the disposal of solid waste has been constructed and is operational. An increasing portion of the population is now employed in the commercial and administrative sectors.
The relocation of the North East District Headquarters from to Masunga has had significant implications for the village’s economic, social and cultural spheres in the last decade. This new title was persistently affirmed by government as it aimed at upgrading the village “towards a level where it can represent an attractive option outside other larger villages and urban centres such as Francistown and Gaborone for investment and job creation”.
The Council sought the services of engineering consulting companies to carry out a study and detailed design of the Masunga Infrastructure Development (Phase 3). Wellfield Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd (WCS) was appointed for this task and it carried out design audit and construction supervision for the project.
Scope of Works
Work involves construction of approximately 15.3 km of secondary and tertiary roads and associated storm water drainage facilities in Masunga Village which basically include construction and provision of bitumen surfaced roads and construction of lined/unlined storm water drainage facilities, upgrading of existing bus/taxi rank to approximately 4500m² of paved surface standard, construction of an ablution block for the bus/taxi rank facility, construction of a car park near the bus rank, and upgrading of the unpaved areas and parking facilities to approximately 13,350m² of paved surface standard at the shopping mall and relocation of existing utility services such as water, electricity and telephone where these are affected by the above construction works. The total cost of this entire project is estimated around P101 million.
The construction phase of the project commenced in July 2008 and is expected to take 24 months to complete. Once completed, the Works will be handed over to the North East District Council (NEDC) who will be responsible for the infrastructure’s operation and maintenance.
