Government has forked out over E27 million for the final touches at Buhleni Police Station.
The E27 446 000 that has been set aside, according to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) first quarter performance report, is for clearance of the Project Final Account (PFA) under the supervision of the ministry of public works and transport.
The report states that the ministry is yet to furnish the organisation with clearance certificates to start payment processes. The E27 million is part of the E86 446 000 that was allocated by government to the police service to undertake various capital projects in the first quarter of the financial year 2025/26. According to the report, the cost seeks to cater for the payment of final snag lists of the entire building, construction of carports and landscaping of the surroundings. The project is earmarked to be completed in this financial year ,2025/26.
The construction of the Buhleni Police Station commenced in 2018 and its initial cost was projected to be at E138 492 992. However, since the project could not be completed in 2020 as it had been expected. The total coat of the construction project was later anticipated to be at E158 856 224.69 by August 30, 2022, which was the other date that it was meant to be completed.
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“Worth stating is that the police have already occupied the station in an effort to check its operation status and establish its sustainability while the contractor is still on site in case of any faults,” reads the current report. On another note, the police report states that also in the pipeline of capital projects that will be undertaken by the police service is the rehabilitation of Siphofaneni Police Station.
It states that there is a dire need for an urgent rehabilitation of the station, particularly painting, re-roofing, tiling and office extension space to cater for the recent urbanisation of the entire Siphofaneni Town. Further, the police service will also procure building material for the replacement roofing for Sidvokodvo asbestos houses, Bhunya and Simunye Police Stations, as well as the replacement of timber for selected houses at Mbabane PTS, Manzini and Gege Police Camps and other houses that were affected by storms.
For the latter projects, a part of E20 million that had been set aside for the second phase of the rehabilitation of police buildings will be utilised. It further emphasised the urgent need for infrastructure rehabilitation to enhance the welfare of the officers.
Eswatini Observer Press Reader
