…Moshoeshoe I Airport set to become an economic freezone area
Mohloai Mpesi
Moshoeshoe I International Airport is poised for significant renovations aimed at transforming it into an economic free–zone to revitalize Lesotho’s struggling economy.
This initiative seeks to modernize the dilapidated airport, enabling it to accommodate large aircraft like the Boeing 767, which carries at least 300 passengers.
Minister of Public Works and Transport, Matjato Moteane, said the project had been designed to attract foreign manufacturers to Lesotho, allowing them to produce goods locally before exporting them globally.
He described the current state of the airport as unsafe for trade, citing non-functional runway lights and air control systems.
In 2020, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had threatened to shut down the airport if it wasn’t refurbished. Years of neglect had left it in a state of disrepair.
A June 2022 investigative report from a South African publication revealed that the Transport Ministry had awarded a controversial M33.6 million contract to dubious South African businessman, Thulani Majola’s liquidated Lesedi Technical Engineering Consulting (LTE) for the airport’s overhaul.
From as early as 2 August 2023, Mr Moteane, revealed that the government was exploring loopholes through which it could terminate the LTE contract, saying the deal had been flawed from the onset.
Initially, the contract in question had been won by Mr Majola’s LTE Consulting Engineers on 11 November 2021, but the company changed its trading name to Lesedi Technical Engineering Consulting, allegedly even before being awarded the contract.
Mr Moteane had, on that day (2 August), said the government had since engaged the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) to scrutinise the multi-million Maloti contract and advise on how Lesotho could escape from the clutches of the deal.
The ALSF is an international organisation hosted by the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, at the request of African countries, and provides support during the negotiations of contracts between governments and investors.
In addition, the minister revealed that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) and police had also been roped in to investigate how the lucrative contract was awarded to Lesedi/LTE.
The Lesotho Times had, before then, established that Lesedi/LTE was paid M8.4 million in May this year by the government for preliminary works done at the airport, which included a feasibility study.
LTE Consulting Engineers had been provisionally liquidated by the time the company was awarded the contract, which allegedly made the deal illegal. The firm was provisionally liquidated on 9 June 2021, with the liquidation being made final in February 2022.
Lesotho’s then Ministry of Transport had announced LTE Consulting Engineers as the preferred bidder for the project on 10 June 2021, a day after the Gauteng High Court had issued the provisional liquidation order.
However, Mr Moteane this week stated that the government had ceased working with LTE due to the company’s subpar performance and decided to manage the project in-house.
“We are no longer working with LTE. They failed to conduct a thorough job, and we could not pay for such inadequate services,” Mr Moteane told the Lesotho Times.
“It was easy to terminate the contract because they did not do a good job. We had to do the work by ourselves. We were not going to pay them for hoax services and for their failures… They did not give us a good service… So we only paid them for what we approved.
“We need to make a special economic zone at the airport for export, import and processing of goods. They didn’t even mention that in their study. That means they didn’t quite understand what they were supposed to do,” he said.
He added: “It was best for us to break that contract. If they are going to sue us, I don’t know whether they will win. I heard that in the beerhalls they instead say they are afraid that I will sue them for their shoddy work. I don’t have any interest in suing them. So, I don’t think anybody will be suing anybody.”
Mr Moteane said the ICAO inspection was due next year. Hence, the airport should be revamped urgently to avoid the possibility of it being suspended from operating for failing to meet international standards.
“Our last inspection was in 2007 and next year in August, ICAO is coming for inspection. If we don’t meet the standards, we will be shut down.
“Our runway is currently 3.2km and should be stretched to 4.2km. But we first must determine whether it will be beneficial for us, thus, if we will get bigger planes to use this airport. I hope by 2028 we will be completing the renovations.”
The minister said upgrading the airport to an economic freezone would likely increase traffic.
Special Economic Zones or Free Zones are geographically defined areas in which companies are subject to special rules that differ from those in the rest of the country. Investors operating therein, are often granted tax breaks, duty exemptions and other financial incentives.
He said the government’s efforts to revamp Moshoeshoe I International Airport was aimed at boosting the economy, by turning it into a bustling hub for international trade, with improved safety and infrastructure to accommodate larger aircraft and increased traffic.
“Lesotho’s airport lacks traffic. Enhancing it without addressing this issue only increases costs without proportionate benefits. Developing it as an economic freezone will attract manufacturers who bring raw materials, process them here, and export finished products
“The people that we have started talking to are manufacturers of high value goods like computers, cell phones and other small valuables that can be done in a country that has a reasonable level of good education….
“We might not be able to afford a Sumsang device but to have them at least manufactured in our country would be beneficial. We are now positioning our efforts and it requires a lot of things to do so,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Moteane added that improving safety was paramount. The runway lights and air control systems should be functional to assure foreign investors of the airport’s reliability.
“We must make the airport as safe as Bloemfontein’s, enabling night landings and proper instrumentation. Currently, the runway is underutilised due to its poor condition.
“The current plane coming to Lesotho carries 33 people, and that does not run the full length of the runway because the runway is too big. The current runway is 3.2kilometres, only using about less than half of that. If we stretch it, we can reach 4.2kilometres to accommodate big planes such as the Boeing 767 which carries about 300 passengers. Jumping from the current 33 passenger plane to 300 is quite a big change. People are going to be happy.
“A contractor is already working on fixing the runway lights at a cost of M1.5 million, with more contractors from South Africa set to upgrade the airport.
“There are about five packages in progress, including the major upgrade of the airport building. The Principal Secretary will provide details of the awarded contracts soon,” he said.
