Staff Reporters
INSURANCE giant, Alliance has officially opened a M500 000 interlocking road from the Basotho Hat leading to its head office in Maseru following a major paving exercise.
Before the renovation, the road was littered with potholes due to incessant rains and years of neglect by the local authorities.
“Driving or walking to our office had become a difficult for our clients but that is now a thing of the past,” Alliance CEO, Angus Yeats, told the Lesotho Times in an interview this week.
The 870m long and 80mm deep paved road was officially opened on 24 October 2022.
The interlocking pavers are heavy and durable, Mr Yeats said.
Alliance Insurance decided to take matters into its own hands after repeated pleas to the local authorities to repair the road proved fruitless, he said.
Alliance CEO, Angus Yeats
Plans to revamp the road were mooted a long time ago but construction work began in March this year following consultations with Maseru City Council (MCC).
“The negotiations took a while because MCC wanted to make sure that we had the capacity to do the work properly and according to their required standards,” Mr Yeats said.
He said they decided to renovate the road after years of lack of maintenance.
Their clients were frustrated by the state of the road and this “did not sit well with us”.
“We then decided to do something about it and approached MCC.”
Mr Yeats said when they started the project, some of their clients were so happy that they donated various amounts of money towards the project.
The project also benefitted the Maseru economy as only local companies were engaged to do the work, he said.
Mr Yeats urged other companies to emulate Alliance, saying the country cannot always wait for the government to foster development.
“This was just one way of partnering with the government to develop the country. We are more than ready to work with the new government to continue with such initiatives whenever we can.
“We are a community-based company, our employees come from Lesotho, our profits are generated from here and so we are always ready to help out.”
On her part, Alliance Insurance public relations and corporate communications manager, Limakatso Mokobocho, said the renovation was part of their corporate social initiatives.
“This was our way of thanking our clients who always try their best to support us,” Ms Mokobocho said.
