Raymond Jaravaza [email protected]
MASSIVE works have resumed along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road with construction equipment back on site and hundreds of workers hard at work to meet a target of 20KM for each of the eight contractors by the end the year.
The eight contractors awarded tender to rehabilitate the 440KM Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway are back on site after Government secured US$400 million infrastructure financing package to accelerate the upgrade of three major highways.
Yesterday, a Zimpapers crew conducted a snap survey along the critical Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, and noticed a hive of activity as workers from different contractors were busy, either clearing the bush, constructing detours, working on drainage or putting tar.
A few kilometres from the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls tollgate, construction workers from Fossil Contracting (Pvt) Ltd were observed widening the 10 kilometre stretch of the busy highway while another crew from the same company was applying bitumen after Bernice Business Centre.
The next contractor – Masimba Holdings — working on a stretch after Insuza Business Centre, has already opened about 15KM to traffic and has started resurfacing and compacting the remaining section.
Further up the highway before Phulula Business Centre, the contractor, Syvern Investments construction team is back on site and their yellow equipment was observed doing heavy earthworks in preparation for drainage installation and tarring its section of the road.
In separate interviews, motorists welcomed the resumption of the rehabilitation works but called on contactors to prioritise certain sections of the road that have become untrafficable.
“The section from Phulula Business Centre, which is less than 40 kilometres from St Luke’s Hospital, is one of the worst affected areas and it takes a haulage truck loaded with coal, about two hours to cover the short distance.
“If that section can be attended to then it will make the journey a little bit bearable,” said truck driver Mr Nhamo Mutero who was parked at the Insuza Business Centre.
Another truck driver who identified himself as Morgan, who plies the Hwange to Johannesburg, South Africa, route said he yearns for the days it took him just six hours to travel from Bulawayo to the coal mining town.
“The distance from Hwange to Bulawayo is around 350km and when driving a truck loaded with coal it should take at least five to six hours considering that the speed limit is about 60km per hour,” he said.
The truck driver said due to the state of the road, it now takes more than 11 hours to cover the distance.
“My wish is for the contractors to move faster and finish the road before mid-2027,” said Morgan.
Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Cde Richard Moyo echoed the same sentiments and urged contractors to prioritise the worst affected sections of the highway.
“Government has secured funding and the contractors are back on site and we expect them to speed up the construction and rehabilitation works as some sections of the highway are in a terrible state,” he said.
Minister Moyo said contractors must prioritise fixing the worst damaged sections of the road so that motorists don’t spend long hours on the highway.
“I have instructed Engineer Xolani Ncube (Matabeleland roads engineer) to relay this message to contractors,” said Minister Moyo.
The release of funds by Government has seen contractors resuming work thereby ending months of uncertainty.
The three major highways — Beitbridge/Harare, Harare/Chirundu and Bulawayo/Victoria Falls — serve as economic lifelines, linking production centres, tourism destinations and regional trade corridors.
Government has moved in to expedite the rehabilitation of these critical transport corridors to ensure smooth travel by motorists, enhanced trade and tourism business connectivity.
The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration, a parastatal responsible for mobilising, collecting and managing funds for the maintenance of the country’s national road network, secured the CBZ infrastructure bond backed by its ring-fenced funds to finance works on the three highways.
The investment comes as the Second Republic intensifies efforts to modernise the country’s transport infrastructure, recognising that reliable roads are essential for reducing the cost of doing business, improve movement of goods and people as well as strengthening Zimbabwe’s competitiveness as a regional trade and investment destination.
The three highways have strategic economic significance beyond domestic connectivity.
The Beitbridge-Harare Highway is a critical route for trade with South Africa while the Harare-Chirundu Highway connects Zimbabwe to Zambia as well as markets further north.
The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway links the country’s second-largest city to Matabeleland North and Victoria Falls, one of Zimbabwe’s prime tourism destinations.
