The engines of service delivery are steamed up as the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport in Mpumalanga gets closer to the end of the 2013 October Transport Month. After a beehive of activities to celebrate the transport month, the Department moves to Ntombe in Piet Retief under the Mkhondo Local Municipality to officially open a foot bridge.
MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu will tomorrow lead a team of the Department’s management to the area where the R 5 million foot bridge has been constructed. Before the construction of the bridge, when the Ntombe River was flooded the village came to a standstill as there was no means of reaching the community from both sides of the river.
The flooding affect the low level bridge on the main road allowing access from both Piet Retief and Wakkerstroom towns. Pensioners often struggled to reach the pay points for their pensions. It became common and norm for the pensioners to miss the pay outs due to lack of accessibility. People were forced to walk a distance of 18 kilometre single trip to reach the school during rainy and adverse weather conditions.
The previous footbridge that was constructed of wood logs was unstable and became a death-trap. Learners were forced to carry their bicycles on their shoulders to reach the other side of the river to attend schools. About 18 job opportunities were created for the locals.
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