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Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
WORK on the Harare-Chirundu highway has resumed, with five local contractors awarded the tender to upgrade the road having moved on site.
The five had been directed by Treasury to concentrate all the resources and efforts on the Harare end of the highways and other city roads ahead of the 44th SADC Summit.
Roadwork for the US$550 million Harare-Chirundu Highway, whose scope includes partial dualisation and widening of the road, are scheduled to be completed in August next year.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the project was done in February this year, with the Government setting a time-frame of 18 months for the roadworks to be completed.
The five contractors are Tensor Systems, Bitumen World, Masimba, Fossil and Exodus and Company. They were given 67-kilometre stretches each as the Government works towards fulfilling its pledge of upgrading the country’s road network.
Provincial roads engineer, Simbarashe Gomo, told The Herald yesterday that it was all systems go for the road upgrade works that had been temporarily halted.
“All the contractors now have their manpower and resources on the ground. We are glad that the contractors are working on meeting the 18-month deadline,” he said.
As the contractors put all hands on deck for the successful completion of the road in the stipulated time frame, workers are now on the ground working on new detour routes, and finishing up works temporarily suspended before the SADC summit.
On Monday, The Herald caught up with Bitumen World workers whose employer was awarded the Dinsi-Chirundu stretch. They were busy working on the potholed stretches with some carving out detour routes at Makuti, Mapinga and Karoi.
Bitumen employees were also working on clearing 5km of detour and dumping of base layer.
The same was also being done by engineers and casual workers from both Masimba and Exodus and Company with detour works being carried out. The two contractors are working on the stretches from Lions Den to Dinsi near Nyamakate.
Tensor System’s site agent Mr Panashe Chikomwe said their teams were already on the ground and the contractor was holding a meeting today about resumption of works.
“We are ready to meet the deadline. Our teams are already on the ground and we are currently working on site establishment as this is part of the contract,” he said.
Mr Bigboy Sibindi, Bitumen World site agent told The Herald that although they were on site and patching up some potholed stretches, they were hoping for an urgent release of funds so that major works would resume.
Engineer Elton Saruchera, Exodus and Company construction engineer said road-making equipment had been brought back to site with massive road upgrade works ready to take shape.
The long-awaited widening and upgrading of the 340-kilometre Harare-Chirundu Highway has opened employment opportunities for hundreds of youths with at least 1 500 set to be engaged at peak.
Tensor Systems has also moved on site, bringing joy to the motoring public while the Mapinga business community foresees a boom in business.
A motorist, Mr Clive Musendamira, said the latest development signals a new Zimbabwe under President Mnangagwa, who is also the current chairman of SADC.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter