Group Five, Zinara in spotlight

Dumisani Nsingo
Bulawayo Bureau
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development has instituted an inquiry into construction of the Plumtree-Mutare Highway.

This follows indications that the road, whose construction started in 2012 and was completed using a US$206 million loan from the Development Bank of South Africa, was already in need of rehabilitation.

Zinara and Group Five International built the road.

In an interview last week, Transport and Infrastructure Development Committee chair Cde Dexter Nduna (Zanu-PF) said Parliament was scrutinising the workmanship and due diligence issues pertaining to the project.

“A lot of sections of that road are now unravelling or they are becoming dilapidated before the commissioning of the road.

‘‘The shelf life of a road is supposed to be a minimum of 10 years but the road was started in 2012, and now it’s six years down the line.

“We have a lot of flaws emanating from the construction and the integrity of the road leaves a lot to be desired.”

Cde Nduna said the committee was also concerned that the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers and Zimbabwe Council of Engineers were neither consulted nor included in implementation.

“We got people coming with money and engineers whose credentials were not even interrogated,” he said. “There was no involvement of the ZIE, which plays an oversight on all engineering projects.”

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo could not be drawn into commenting on the matter, saying Government was waiting for the contractor to complete and handover the project for commissioning.

“I can’t comment on the nature of the work because that will be unprofessional as they are still to handover the road to us.”