Minister sees progress on Anse Royale projects |14 November 2009

He was accompanied on inspection visits by the Anse Royale and Au Cap district administrators and Land Transport Agency (LTA) chief executive Royston Meriton.

Mr Morgan, Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Transport, said it was part of a series of visits to look at progress on various projects in all districts.

Minister Morgan and his delegation inspecting the newly surfaced road at Kap Bonm Zan (above) and the new drainage system and pavement in front of Anse Royale school

This followed a request from President James Michel to all his ministers and agencies to go into the communities and see what progress has been made.

“Following the consultative meeting, my ministry has revised various projects we considered as priorities, and together with the district authority we have decided to implement small projects quicker to benefit the community,” said Mr Morgan.

He said he was satisfied with work that has been completed on a 650-metre stretch of the Kap Bonm Zan Road that will link Mont Plaisir with Pointe Au Sel.

This stretch has been levelled and surfaced with asphalt at a cost of R650,000. When the whole road is finished it will improve the lives of some 250 families and bring further development opportunities for properties in this area.

Delays in building the road have been the subject of much public criticism. After the consultative meeting, the LTA re-evaluated the project and drew up a plan of action to surface at least the first 650 metres – about half the total length of the road – for which the earthwork and roadside drains had already been partly completed.

The project was initiated in 2003 but was hit by a number of unforeseen problems from the onset and brought to a premature halt in 2007.

Mr Morgan said when the project was taken up again, his ministry opted for an asphalt surface instead of a concrete one as this was more cost-effective.

The final section of the project – to join it with the Anba Zanmalak Road at Pointe Au Sel – is expected to start early next year.

Mr Morgan said invitations to tender have already been placed in the newspaper for people interested in offering a bus service on this route.

He also went to look at work on the new drainage system and pavement in front of Anse Royale school. The R1.1 million project will be completed in mid-December, while road resurfacing and construction of a new bus shelter are to be finished by the end of next February.