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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
GOVERNMENT has started rehabilitating roads and expects to have completed pothole patching and construction of some bridges that were washed away by the rains by the end of next month as part of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme.
Government adopted the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2 following President Mnangagwa’s declaration that the country’s roads are a state of disaster.
The declaration allows Government to mobilise resources which will be channelled towards fixing the country’s roads.
Treasury has already released $480 million towards the roads rehabilitation programme.
Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona said the emergency road rehabilitation project will run until February 2024 as Government is devoted to ensuring that the country’s roads are trafficable.
He was speaking in the National Assembly’s Wednesday Question and Answer session while responding to legislators who wanted to know what Government was doing to rehabilitate the country’s dilapidated infrastructure.
Most of the country’s roads have outlived their lifespan and were further damaged by heavy rains received during the 2020/21 rainy season.
“The immediate phase that has been referred to by the Honourable Member is the one that is running. It started on 1 March 2021 and as we speak, engineers are seized in trying to come up with roads. I urge honourable members to take this upon yourselves so that you prioritise roads in your constituencies that you think are very important and those bridges that you are talking about. That first phase is taking 60 days whereby we are going to address the issues of wash-aways, pothole filling and drain clearing,” said Minister Mhona.
“Apparently, in the next 60 days, the ministry will be seized in trying to address that. We are actually mandated according to the Roads Act, Chapter 13:18 which talks of section 5 that allows the Honourable Minister to take charge of the roads and this is what we are doing.”
He said for the project to be successful it requires Parliament, local authorities and rural district councils to take ownership of this programme.
Minister Mhona said Government would be monitoring the construction projects as it wants to ensure that the country’s infrastructure is durable.
This follows concerns that some of the country’s infrastructure was substandard and easily wears out.
“I am happy that as a country, we now have a policy that looks into all the projects and infrastructure that is being constructed, that they are done properly through monitoring and evaluation. After a project has been completed, evaluations are made to ensure that they are of correct standard,” said Minister Mhona, while urging Parliamentarians to also play their monitoring role.
“Like I alluded to earlier on, the national policy on monitoring and evaluation, I am sure will go a long way in trying to address some of these issues. Let me also hasten to say the Committees of Parliament, let us work together and try to monitor and evaluate projects so that we do not wait for the contractor to misuse taxpayer’s monies and then report thereafter.” — @nqotshili
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