10 October 2007
Eastern Cape MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Mr Thobile
Mhlahlo, will officially open the road between Adelaide and Fort Beaufort on
Thursday, 11 October 2007.
The event, which forms part of the Transport Month (October) 2007, will be
held at Newtown in Fort Beaufort at 11h00.
This project has cost the Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport
R176 million, of which R51 million was spent on 166 local labourers, who
included 54 women.
It forms part of a programme by the department to link the small towns such
as Bedford, Adelaide, Fort Beaufort and Alice through infrastructure investment
with economic activities, which are taking place in the Buffalo City area,
especially now that the provincial government is in a process of revitalising
the Dimbaza industrial area.
The R63 route has been identified as one of the economically strategic
provincial routes that facilitate mobility and access to markets.
Over the past five years, the Department of Roads and Transport has pumped
over R640 million in the Nxuba and Nkonkobe Municipalities in capital
investment.
The Department started with the section between Bedford and Adelaide at a
cost of R100 million, which was then followed by the section between Dimbaza
and Middledrift at a cost of R165 million.
Currently, the department is reconstructing the section of road between
Middledrift and Alice at a cost of R202 million, which has already employed 470
people and is scheduled for completion in December 2008.
We will then direct our attention to the section between Alice and Fort
Beaufort.
Enquiries:
Ncedo Kumbaca
Spokesperson: Ministry for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport
Cell: 082 442 2388 / 073 206 6569
Issued by: Ministry for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape
Provincial Government
10 October 2007
