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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Reporter
The government has tarred a 10km stretch of Fighting Road that links Lupane, Nkayi and Kwekwe while material for rehabilitating the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road is already on the ground.
There are, however, concerns that rains could delay tarring of a 15 km stretch on the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road.
The Fighting Road works started on May 15, beginning just after the Lupane business centre and stretching well after the Provincial Heroes Acre towards Nkayi.
The overall objective is to have the entire road from Lupane business centre via Nkayi to Kwekwe tarred.
The Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Engineer Theodius Chinyanga, said the roads are being rehabilitated under the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2).
In February last year, President Mnangagwa launched the ERRP2, a countrywide initiative to improve the country’s road network.
Most of the country’s roads had outlived their lifespan while the rains that were received during the rainy season worsened their condition.
The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has to date distributed nearly $6 billion to all provinces and local authorities for road maintenance in the first quarter of this year under ERRP2.
The government is committed to rehabilitating the road network as infrastructural development is key to attaining an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
While a 10 km stretch of Fighting Road has been tarred, grading of the remainder of the road is being done to make it trafficable.
Rehabilitated stretches will be tarred when the treasury releases more funds. Drawlink Civil Engineers are the contractors for the project.
Once complete, the road will reduce the travelling distance from Harare to Lupane or the resort City of Victoria Falls by over 200km.
Farmers from the two districts of Nkayi and Lupane will save more as the cost of taking their produce to the markets either in Bulawayo or Kwekwe will no longer be prohibitive.
“The plan is to connect the three districts and reduce the distance from Harare to Victoria Falls by using this route, each year, a section will be done as funds permit,” said Eng Chinyanga.
He said the contractor for the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road stretch was ready to surface with all the materials now on the ground.
SX Construction, which was initially contracted to work on the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road had the contract ‘mutually’ terminated after the contractor cited a global rise of inflation and the price of other products which they said made doing business impossible hence delays in the works on the road. A new contractor, China Chrome Mining Company has since been appointed.
“The contractor on this stretch of the road is ready to surface as we speak. All materials are on the ground. However, temperatures from the weekend to date have been very low and unsuitable for surfacing activities,” said Eng Chinyanga.
In August this year, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube invited willing and capable investors to partner Government in the rehabilitation of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and the Kwekwe-Nkayi and Lupane roads into a state-of-the-art highway to improve efficiency in the movement of goods and services.
Professor Ncube said Government was keen on getting investors for a public-private partnership for the rehabilitation of the roads and other projects.–@skhumoyo2000
Online Reporter