Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve in HWANGE
CONTRACTORS working on upgrading the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway have made assurances that they are firmly on track to complete the rehabilitation works by next year.
The companies made the assurance during a two-day media tour led by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Engineer Joy Makumbe last week.
The tour, which included officials from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), provided a glimpse on progress being made on the critical 440-kilometre artery linking Zimbabwe’s tourism capital to the rest of the country.
The massive project — segmented into eight sections — has been awarded to local contractors that include Fossil Construction, Masimba Construction, Syvern Engineering, Bitumen Resources, Asphalt Construction and Bitumen World.
During the tour, the contractors detailed phased plans to deliver a durable, widened highway.
“So, in terms of our approach, our first approach was to look at dealing with the potholes; it was also becoming unsafe. We have said, first of all, let us make sure that our road is smooth for the 50 kilometres that we are working on,” said Masimba Construction group chief executive officer Eng Fungai Matawu.
Standing on what he described as the worst section of their stretch, Eng Matawu said they targeted to make it trafficable by Christmas, with full completion of their segment expected by the end of 2025.
Other contractors are similarly ambitious.
Asphalt Construction’s manager Eng Panganai Mataure, who is working on a 51km section (from 252km to 303km), said they will be widening the road from a seven-metre to a nine-metre surface and laying a 150mm stabilised cement layer.
“Since we started operations, we have cleared the road width for the first 16km,” Eng Mataure said.
Overall, they plan to close the section from Cross Dete to Cross Mabale by February next year, diverting traffic via Dete, while ensuring critical access for clinics and ambulances remains uninterrupted.
From Syvern Engineering, project manager Eng Arnold Mfungwaze reported steady progress, with 5km already open to traffic and another 9km ready for cement stabilisation.
“We expect to finish the project by August next year, all things being equal in terms of funding and resources,” he said.
He indicated that improved detour roads will be left for local communities.
Eng Makumbe described the involvement of local contractors as a major national achievement.
“These are local contractors —100 percent Zimbabwean. That is what also gives us joy and pleasure . . . we are capacitating our own, our own engineers. They now have the capacity to do the roads in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Richard Moyo expressed gratitude to President Mnangagwa for fulfilling his promise.
He, however, expressed concern over contractors that seem to be behind schedule.
The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road is being steadily transformed into a world-class highway.
Tinaye Agere