admin
Walter Mswazie Herald Correspondent—
Families living along Masvingo-Beitbridge highway will soon be relocated to pave way for its dualisation slated to begin by the end of next month. It is highly likely that villagers in areas like Chivi Turn-off, Mafenga, Sese, Maringire, Zivuku, Museva and Ngundu (all in Chivi District) and Lundi, Rutenga and Mwenezi (in Mwenezi district) will be affected, since some of them are living close to the highway.
Masvingo provincial administrator Mr Fungai Mbetsa said though some families in parts of Chivi would be moved, modalities to identify where they would be resettled had not been done yet.
“A number of families living near the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway in Chivi District are going to be relocated to pave way for the dualisation of the road. However, I am not yet privy to the finer details on the exact number of families to be affected.”
A businessman operating at Maringire Business Centre Mr John Hungoidza said people in the district had been advised that relocation was inevitable.
“It is obvious that some families will be relocated to pave way for the dualisation project,” he said.
“The message has already been circulated and most villagers around here are fully aware of what is going to happen.”
However, the fear is that the money for compensation could not be readily available.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo said the affected families would be compensated.
“It is obvious that whenever there is road construction, some structures, including people’s homesteads, will be destroyed,” he said.
“The road dualisation is a national project and villagers can have their fields or homes destroyed. In such cases, Government will compensate them and have them relocated.”
Dr Gumbo said the contractor was doing assessments, action will be taken depending on what would have been discovered.
“We are no longer actively involved in the dualisation project as we have awarded the tended to Geiger International,” he said.
“The company personnel is on the ground, making assessments on such things as how many homesteads, fields, fruit trees and other villagers’ assets will be affected.
“We cannot tell how many are going to be affected, but the fact is that such developments will leave some homestead destroyed.”
Dr Gumbo said Government would be monitoring progress to ensure the contractor was doing work according to specifications.
“The relocation and compensation would be done by the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing,” he said.
Though the project is being done by Geiger International, Government has negotiated a 40 percent stake for local companies.
The long-awaited dualisation project will also see at least 300 000 locals getting jobs.
Online Reporter