The upgrading and construction of 30 roads in the Eastern Cape, spanning 500km, has been completed or are to be completed shortly, at a cost of R1,2 billion.

The province, which has the fourth highest road maintenance backlog of the nine provinces, announced last year that it would budget R1,2 billion for the upgrade and reconstruction of the roads; R900 million would come from the provincial department while the remaining R300m would be funded by the South African National Road Agency.

Roads completed or about to be completed include those between:

* Port St Johns and Ntafufu;
* Bambisane Hosptial in Flagstaff;
* East London and Cintsa;
* Maclear and Mount Fletcher;
* Cala and Elliott;
* Cala and Lady Frere (completion due in April);
* Butterworth and Kei Cuttings (N2);
* Sandile and Lovers Twist;
* Ntabakazi andTsomo; and
* Matatiele and Mount Fletcher.

Some 120 km of road remains under construction and would be completed by the end of 2004. These roads could be found in areas such as Dimbaza/Middledrift, Bedford/Adelaide, N2/Kei Mouth and Idutywa and Engcobo.