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ROAD PROJECT NOW A HEADACHE FOR MINISTER NTSHANGASE

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MKHWAKHWENI – Minister attacked!

A project, which will likely bring development in the road infrastructure at Shiselweni I, has become a headache for Minister of Public Service Christian Myekeni Ntshangase.
The politician, who serves as Shiselweni I Member of Parliament and is a brother to former Minister of Education and Training Wilson Makhalempi and Isaiah Mzuthini, had to rope in the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) after a rowdy crowd demanded an explanation on why a road the community members view as leading to his homestead, was being upgraded first than other roads within the constituency.

Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, the Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, confirmed that police attended the meeting. However, she said they were invited by government officers who wanted their presence. The Times SUNDAY has learnt that the minister is currently at loggerheads with some residents from Mabonabulawe Chiefdom, who are accusing him of allegedly diverting a project that they had hoped would see the public road, D49, upgraded using chemical soil stabiliser, Probase.

Road to minister’s home

What has brought commotion is that the Probase Company is currently upgrading road D48 – a road that leads to the minister’s homestead. The distance to benefit from the upgrade is 4.7 kilometres. However, the minister’s home is situated at least 3.8 kilometres away from where  the  upgrade would end. In fact, the D48 road covers over 450 households that will benefit from the project, including the Mzipha Clinic and a primary school.

The aggrieved residents were reportedly so livid, such that they vandalised some of the machinery, a grader and earth mover that were already on-site doing road widening earthworks and site preparation. The bitter residents are said to have claimed that the road that got gazetted for was D49. Sifiso Khumalo, the Indvuna Yenkhundla, said the constituency has four roads cutting across, and two of them got gazetted for upgrading. He said when the current council took office in 2018; they received a report that D49 would be the first road to be upgraded.
Khumalo explained that the announcement was communicated to the residents by a former MP. He said what had angered the residents was that when the upgrading programme began recently, another road benefitted.

 

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