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Freeman Razemba-Senior Reporter
PARLIAMENT is happy with progress made so far on the US$88 million Mbudzi Interchange in southern Harare, which is now 64 percent complete.
Legislators from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development yesterday toured the interchange and appreciated the work done so far by contractors at the intersection of Simon Mazorodze, Chitungwiza and High Glen Roads.
Short-term funding for the project was arranged through local financial institutions, while Tensor Systems, Fossil Contracting and Masimba Construction formed the Tefoma Construction consortium to build the interchange, the most ambitious and complex piece of road engineering in the country.
The Government has so far injected US$45 million towards the project which is set for completion by the end of July.
In an interview during the tour, the Committee chairperson, Cde Knowledge Kaitano, said: “There is so much progress here and we are excited to see the developments. When we were last here two months ago, we were wondering what was going on, but now we can see everything is now taking shape. We can see where we are coming from and where we are going.”
Resident Engineer Emmanuel Dube said work was progressing very well and was now at 64 percent.
“We have structural work which is 13 bridges on the interchange and two bridges on Amalinda Drive and Harare Drive on peripheral work,” he said.
Of the 13 bridges planned for the interchange, nine were almost complete while work on decks was in progress on the other four.
“In terms of the earthworks, you can see the amount of earth we have moved. It’s just under 900 000 cubic metres of a total of one million cubic metres that we have to move here,” he said.
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