Minister satisfied with progress on ongoing road projects |28 January 2022
The Minister for Transport Antony Derjacques yesterday visited ongoing road projects being undertaken by the Seychelles Land Transport Authority (SLTA).
He was accompanied by the authority’s chief executive Parinda Herath.
“Today at the invitation of the CEO of SLTA, I was happy to visit the areas of progress on road restoration and construction. We started at Intendance where there was a little collapse underneath a road which we needed to tackle and ensure that the roads remain functional,” noted the minister. During heavy rainfall this month, there was a fallen embankment at Intendance. SLTA decided to investigate the site and it was decided that we would have to do some emergency work and construct a wall to retain the embankment. The project is going to be tendered in the coming week.
The second stop was at Mont Plaisir where SLTA is resurfacing and enlarging 2.5 kms of road because of heavier traffic and a larger community at Mont Plaisir. This project, which started in mid-January 2022, entails enlarging the Mont Plaisir road from the top until pump station. The enlargement of the road will facilitate the flow of vehicle on this part of the road. The project will take approximately 1 and half months to be completed.”
After that, further down, Minister Derjacques and Mr Herath went to Grande Rivière road, Anse Royale which was completed in November. That’s about 300 metres of a new road funded by the Indian high commission at a cost of R6 million. The contractor for this project is Earth Development Ltd/ Dubai Civil Engineering & Construction and 95% of the work has been completed.
The project comprises a new motorable access road at Grand Rivière Anse Royale. Previously the inhabitants were only able to use a footpath to reach their homes. This project entails a new motorable access road, boundary wall, retaining wall and drainage parking and turning area. The road will further help to facilitate the use of transport for several families that live in this area.
The fourth stop was at Roche Caiman which is another project that started in early January. This is to add a third lane from Eden Island Roundabout to Pangia Apartment. There will be one lane going town and one lane going south and the third will be a stand by lane for vehicle going to Intelvison, Capital Trading, l’Escale hotel and others. The project will be completed in approximately 2 months.
The fifth stop was at Plaisance. The Seychelles Land Transport Agency has started the improvement project on Plaisance roundabout about a week ago. The project will comprise of a double lane roundabout, pedestrian crossing, and improvement of existing footpath around the roundabout and extension of footpath on the Les Mamelles side, retaining walls, and drainage. It will also include an additional lane from the Roundabout towards Roche caiman. Therefore, the Ste Therese Road will be widened to 3 lanes. There will be two lanes going towards Roche Caiman and one lane going towards Plaisance roundabout. The roundabout will help to ease the flow of traffic and improve the turning radius for SPTC buses and other large vehicles. The project will also improve the discipline and improve safety for both pedestrians and motorists.The project has been awarded to O Nivo Construction.
Depending on the weather the project will take about 4 months to complete and it is costing around R4.5 million.
The last stop for the visit was at Brilliant. This road is part of our many secondary and feeder roads that are earmarked to be resurfaced every year.
“I want to emphasise that SLTA also takes care of secondary roads in various districts and this year also depending on the budget it will continue to focus on some secondary roads,” Minister Derjacques said.
Minister Derjacques was pleased with the progress on the various work even though the budget for SLTA was reduced considerably.
“In order to complete some of the projects we need to find fundings and the government is making sure that the citizens have access to proper roads for their daily use. We have some 32000 cars in Seychelles and the dynamics on our roads have changed. There are plans for multi-storey parking and all these need funds, which we are trying to get,” concluded Minister Derjacques.
The accompanying photographs show some highlights of Minister Derjacques’ visits.
Vidya Gappy
Photos by Louis Toussaint/Contributed
