A Bay-based housing company has landed an unusual job in far-off Pakistan related to the havoc caused there by the recent flooding of the Kabul River.
Modular construction firm Moladi has been contracted by the Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK) provincial housing authority to build a flood containment wall on a long stretch of the river.
Thereafter they will begin with new houses for hundreds of thousands of people who have been left homeless.
Director general of the housing authority in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK), Imran Wazir, confirmed the deal in a November 5 letter.
“It is hereby confirmed that the final contract.... was executed on October 16... between the KPK housing authority, as the promoting entity.... and Moladi Building Communities, as the developer.”
The contract said the mandate included, but was not limited to fevelopment of housing for flood-affected families; and construction of retaining walls and flood protection structures along identified canal alignments to safeguard surrounding settlements.
Moladi, situated in Gqeberha, was founded in 1986 by Hennie Botes, who is now the CEO of the company.
He started out as an apprentice tool and die maker with the railways after matriculating in Durban.
His invention, which underpins Moladi’s business plan, is a unique “formwork panel”, which the company manufactures at their factory in Kariega.
The formwork panels clip together, the pipes, doors and windows are inserted and a mix of concrete and a special Moladi additive are poured into the wall, floor and foundation moulds.
The next day the formwork is removed for reuse, and the house is ready.
Botes explained that the flooding in Pakistan occurred during the monsoon rainy season when the Kabul River surged east out of Afghanistan through the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa.
“The rubbish in the river clogs up at the bridges and other spots where the river narrows and the blocked water overflows, devastating the rural communities in especially the Peshawar area.”
The floods were particularly bad this year during the end-June to mid-September monsoon, with 465 people and tens of thousands of livestock killed, massive damage to infrastructure and an estimated 1.6 million people left homeless.
Botes said he had initially visited the area at the invitation of the KPK to see how Moladi could help with the hundreds of thousands of new houses required.
“We realised we first had to solve the flooding issue, and we talked about the possibility of building a wall.
“But the problem with an ordinary wall was the flood waters would gradually erode its foundations, and in time it would collapse.
“When I got back to Gqeberha, I looked at our dolosse here but realised that they would allow too much water to permeate.
“So I designed a floodwater retention wall that will consist of three sections one behind the other, the back one the lowest, supporting the slightly higher middle one, which in turn supports the highest front one.
“Each layer will comprise Moladi formwork panels that the community will manufacture themselves.
“Each panel will be filled with rocks and sand to give them the necessary extra weight to keep them stable.”
The KPK liked the design and gave the Bay company the go-ahead for the project which would see the wall erected along approximately 100km of river.
Botes said the only problem was that the authority had only budgeted to cover the required new housing and did not have enough to fund the wall as well, so Moladi had committed to help source international grant aid.
He said he had been overwhelmed by the warmth and friendliness of the Peshawar community.
“On my last evening there, they treated me to a traditional dinner outside on a fire with dum pukht, a delicious dish where they slow cook lamb in a pot that they seal with bread dough.
“Thereafter we danced and sang to traditional music late into the night, which was wonderful.”
Botes said the community participation element, key to the Moladi approach, had helped win the contract.
“We will as usual supply the formwork and then teach the community how to build the wall and the houses.
“This empowers them with new skills, triggers new supply chains, because they will be sourcing materials locally, and stimulates a circular economy.
“In this way, the housing authority will get the best bang for its buck. Up to 96% of the value of the wall and housing will stay in Pakistan.”
Botes said he envisaged that the new retention wall could be deployed in other flood-prone spots around the world including in SA along the Orange River, which regularly overflowed and damaged farmland in the Northern Cape and Free State.
The Herald
