Construction work on Phase II of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project is set to start following the awarding of the first construction contract for the Polihali north-east access road.

The contract, which is valued at approximately R235 million, was awarded to South African-registered Sinohydro SA and Lesotho-registered Nthane Brothers as the Sinohydro SA/Nthane Brothers Joint Venture.

The contractor is expected to be on site by the beginning of November, marking the start of the six-year construction period for this phase of the project.

The Polihali north-east access road

The Polihali north-east access road project entails the upgrading of the existing approximately 16 km-long, gravel road to a Class A surfaced road. The road, which runs from the town of Mapholaneng in north-eastern Lesotho and the Polihali dam site, will provide access to the dam site for construction vehicles and improve ease of movement for communities in the surrounding areas.

According to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) construction is expected to take 20 months.  “It’s taken years of planning and preparation to get to this point. This is what we have been waiting for,” says Tente Tente, Divisional Manager Phase II at the LHDA.

The Polihali north-east access road is one of the critical advance infrastructure components of Phase II, the majority of which must be completed prior to the construction of the main Phase II works:  the Polihali dam and transfer tunnel.

Capacity building and economic growth

Commenting on the awarding of the contract Samonyane Ntsekele, Lesotho’s minister of Water notes that construction works for Advance Infrastructure including access roads is restricted to contractors registered in Lesotho or South Africa, in line with the tendering strategy to achieve the policy objectives of the Phase II Agreement.

“To foster capacity building and economic growth, the governments have also made provisions in the policy for sharing of the value of all infrastructure works on an equal monetary basis between consultants and contractors registered in Lesotho and in South Africa,” he says.