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Mbuso Nkalakatha Chronicle Reporter
THE festive season and heavy rains being experienced throughout the country have temporarily stalled rehabilitation work being carried out on the Plumtree to Mutare highway.
Infralink, a joint venture company between the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) and South African based Group Five, is running the project.
About 820 kilometres of road are set to be rehabilitated.
Responding to questions from Chronicle, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development Munesushe Munodawafa said partners in the project convened a meeting and agreed to temporarily stop the project until after the holidays.
“All stakeholders agreed to temporarily stop operations until after the festive season so as to allow the smooth flow of traffic during the period,” he said.
Munodawafa said the heavy rains that have been falling throughout the country forced them to further postpone resumption of work on the project.
“Engineers advised us to wait for the ground to be a bit firmer because the heavy rains that were falling at the time would have compromised the quality of the road, we expect to resume work on the second week of February when we hope rains will have subsided,” he said.
Busani Mafu, a kombi driver who plies the city to Mahatshula, route urged relevant authorities to ensure quick completion of the work as the continued closure of parts of the road exposed motorists to accidents.
“Part of the road has been closed since August last year, it is fortunate that we have not witnessed a major accident along that road, I therefore urge the relevant authorities to quickly complete the work,’’ he said
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