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GOVERNMENT will soon start working on the construction of 30 new tollgates —inclusive of urban areas — with a Cabinet minister revealing that they will all be operational before the end of the year.
In an interview with Sunday News on the sidelines of a visit to some streets that are being rehabilitated in Bulawayo, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu said there was no going back on urban tollgates since they had already been approved by Cabinet.
He said the tollgates were essential as this ensured that motorists paid for the rehabilitation of the roads which they used.
“Road rehabilitation is not done free, there is a cost to it and that cost is met by Government. What we are saying now is let us be part of this road rehabilitation exercise; we are not punishing anyone here neither am I collecting for my own benefit, it is just for the benefit of the communities who use the roads.
“There is a misconception among our people that the Government just provides services without them contributing anything but that is not the case. If people really want our road infrastructure to improve especially in the urban areas they should be prepared for these tollgates,” Dr Mpofu said.
He said while in the short term people were criticising him for his stance on the urban tollgates, in the long run they were going to realise the benefits with the roads in a good condition.
“I don’t live in some of these towns or cities where I will be putting up these tollgates but I am concerned about the roads which Zimbabweans are using and if I don’t address this I will be failing as a minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.
“However, regardless of all the criticism being levelled against me regarding this issue I must emphasise that there is no going back now. Cabinet has approved the project and we have already set the train in motion before end of year these urban tollgates will surely be up,” said the minister.
On the road rehabilitation projects in Bulawayo, the minister said this was a positive step by the local authority as they were gradually restoring the image of Bulawayo as one of the smartest cities in Africa.
“This is exactly what we stand for as a ministry. In fact, our statistics indicate that we have achieved way more than what we had been mandated to do under Zim Asset. We are very excited with what is happening on the ground and this has created a lot of excitement in our urban centres through not only the improvement of our road infrastructure but also it has created employment for our citizens.
“What is exciting is that these are local companies that are being engaged by the local authorities. What is even more exciting is that in Bulawayo we have been crying of the problem of deindusrialisation but we now have a local company coming on board, employing people of Bulawayo and doing such a wonderful job on our roads,” said Dr Mpofu.
He said as a ministry, through the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) they were disbursing funds to all local authorities, both rural and urban, which had seen an improvement of even the gravel roads in the rural areas.
“We have seen a situation where even rural buses have started to ply some routes that they had previously abandoned due to the poor state of the roads but I should encourage the councils to work harder and help really improve our road network,” he said.
Bitumen World chairperson Mr Andre Zietsman said they were so committed to the revival of the city’s economic status that most of their employees were from Bulawayo. The company is one of the companies that won a tender to rehabilitate some of the city’s roads.
“For the Bulawayo project we even employed some people who did not have experience, nurtured them so that by the end of the project they will have the necessary experience. Our secret as a company is closely working with our people so that we get 100 percent commitment from them noting that even if one has the nicest machines to work with but without the right people there is no progress at all.
“In Bulawayo our tender was to rehabilitate 18 kilometres of the road network, including parts of Masiyephambili, Jukwa and Cecil Avenue, of which we are now just over 90 percent finished. As part of our social responsibility, we are clearing the drainages, cutting the grass along the roads and even repainting some of the road signs,” said Mr Zietsman.
Meanwhile, Dr Mpofu revealed that they were completing logistics that would see them commence the revamping of all the country’s ports to meet international standards.
“If all systems are in place this ministry has a capacity of employing over 50 000 people but because of the bureaucratic systems this is taking longer than envisaged but it will happen. We will revamp all our ports and complete the rehabilitation of Victoria Falls to mention but one major project,” said Dr Mpofu.
Online Reporter