Francistown ‘Spaghetti’ interchange to boast city’s diversification efforts

Transport and Communications minister Tshenolo Mabeo has hailed the ‘spaghetti intersection’ project in Francistown saying it will give the city a comparative advantage. According to the minister, not only will the interchange boost the city’s economic diversification efforts, but it will help in the creation of jobs for the residents during construction.

Mabeo however warned that during its construction a lot of things such as travel time for people, goods and services will be affected.  The multi-million Pula project- a historic mega road project aimed at easing traffic flow in the second city- forms part of a dual Tonota-Francistown road.  The minister who was speaking at the ground breaking ceremony of the facility recently, noted that the Tonota-Francistown project has already generated jobs for Batswana through direct employment.

“I have been informed that approximately 500 Batswana (two thirds of the total employees) have benefited from direct employment with four Batswana owned companies being sub-contracted,” he stated. Mabeo was of the view that the spaghetti junction would open more employment opportunities for the unemployed.

Mabeo advised Batswana to take advantage of other economic opportunities such as provision of construction supplies, provision of services to include food, housing and transport during the construction period. Furthermore he suggested to the local authorities to outsource services such as landscapes once the project is complete.

“I encourage all Batswana, the nation and road users, to be proud of this envisaged landmark development; let us be proud of it so that we can proudly tell people in other countries that we also have a spaghetti road,” said Mabeo. Work on the spaghetti interchange will start on the 8th of April this year and is expected to end within the next 18 months.