Free State Agriculture (FSA) has welcomed the eventual appointment of contractors to undertake construction on the 300 m stretch of the R30 road between Allanridge and Bothaville.
Kempen Nel, chairman of the infrastructure committee of the FSA, said construction work to be done on this road was long overdue.
“Many lives could have been saved if the government had stepped in earlier. It is worrying that citizens’ lives are being put at risk as a result of bureaucratic red tape and consequent state decay,” said Nel.
Construction would reportedly cost approximately R22 million.
After floods in January, part of the R30 was closed temporarily due to safety concerns.
However, the road was still being used daily – partly due to warning signs and barriers being stolen, explained Nel.
Embankments were later created across the road, inadvertently cutting off farmers from grain silos.
“The department of roads has given farmers permission to drive their tractors and trailers over the embankments in order to deliver their products,” said Nel.
Uys van Heerden of the Allanridge Agricultural Association, said the condition of the road and delays impacted negatively on the agricultural sector.
“The FSA is concerned about the time-consuming process of hiring contractors,” he said.
According to Dr Jack Armour, commercial manager for the FSA, 500 contractors applied for all the road tenders issued by the department, and each of these had to be physically approved by two committees.
“This is further complicated by cumbersome empowerment requirements, which have caused cadre contractors, who cannot do the work, to be appointed,” said Armour.
“The FSA’s position remains that we would prefer the strategically important R30 road from Virginia to Orkney to be taken over by Sanral, which has a much better record of maintaining roads than the provincial department of roads.”
The stretch of road in question has become infamous owing to multiple accidents, in which approximately 25 people died – and sharp criticism was levelled against the Free State Department of Police, Roads and Transport.
It was the resulting public outcry that forced the temporary closure of the road.
In one of the many incidents, in March, a family of four from the Eastern Cape all perished on this road after the car they were travelling their vehicle plunged plungedinto the water. It was established the driver lost control of the car.
In April, six people died when a 22-seater vehicle they were travelling in also ended up in thesubmerged water.
