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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
AN Umzingwane District-born businessman has engaged Government to inject US$150 million to rehabilitate 120KM Old Gwanda Road under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement.
Engineer Bekithemba Mbambo who runs Zwane Enterprises said he has an American partner and they obtained a bank guarantee for the project.
He said his company is headquartered in Harare.
Old Gwanda Road passes through Matopo High School and motorists have decried the state of the road.
Eng Mbambo said coming from Silobi area under Chief Mathe, he has had first-hand experience on the state of the road hence it was dear for him to have the road fixed.
He said he approached Government under a Public Private Partnership to reconstruct the road and recoup his investment over a 25-year period.
“I actually come from Silobi which is about 60km and halfway to Gwanda from Bulawayo that is where my rural home is. So, the road is very, very bad and just to get home you need two-and-half hours,” he said.
Eng Mbambo said they have applied to Government to be granted the project under a build, operate and transfer scheme and are waiting for the concession to be approved. He said when they complete constructing the road they will erect two toll gates which will enable them to recoup their investment.
“We are putting all the necessary structures in place so that when Government gives us a go ahead, all the technical things, we have consulted the community and we are now waiting for the owners of the road to give the go ahead. We are at a very advanced stage,” he said.
“Basically, there are steps which are followed because this was an unsolicited bid on our part to Government to rehabilitate Old Gwanda Road. We approached Government on the steps to be followed and they are guiding us through the steps. We are confident that within the next three to four weeks we are going to get a response.”
Eng Mbambo said the project is expected to transform the local community and they have set aside 20 percent of the total cost of the project to benefit locals. He said he has been involved in projects of similar magnitude and is confident that once granted permission the project will be a success.
“A lot of people are part of the project and I have not done a count, we have invited a lot of companies to assist us. We have surveyors, we have road designers, we have environmental impact assessment teams, we have a company which will do soil tests and six contractors who will put heavy machinery to do the paving of the road because we want to finish the road as soon as possible,” he said.
Eng Mbambo said he has been working closely with Umzingwane MP Cde Levi Mayihlome to ensure the project takes off.
“Together with him we have been pushing for the road to be tarred and it will be a Public Private Partnership (PPP) kind of arrangement with Government,” said Eng Mbambo.
He said it will address mobility challenges faced by the community.
“Those with vehicles cannot use the road to go to their homesteads and those who dare use the road come at an enormous cost in terms of having to repair the car after the interface with the road,” he said.
Eng Mbambo said the reconstruction of the road will benefit the community.
Some of them are involved in agriculture and struggle to access markets due to the poor state of the road. Eng Mbambo said there are several tourism and cultural sites along the road which will become more accessible when the road has been attended to.
He said the road can also be used as a gateway to South Africa when it is rehabilitated.
Eng Mbambo said the project will also spur local economic growth.
“There is also a university which is planned along that route which is Matopo University. It will be impossible to have a viable university with a road in the current position. So if we rehabilitate that road we will be fast-tracking the development of that university and a university will come with a lot of development to the district. There are also big mining concessions along that road which will benefit,” said Eng Mbambo.
He said he has the technical expertise to embark on the project
Cde Mayihlome said Eng Mbambo has the entrepreneurial capacity to embark on a massive project like construction of major roads.
He said it is important for local people who have the capacity to invest in developing their communities.
“Here you are talking about investors coming from the communities, you are talking about professionals in the diaspora who are bringing their expertise and their money. The good thing is that they come from that area. They are passionate about their area and are concerned about its development,” he said.
Cde Mayihlome said that is how countries such as China, India and Israel were developed where local people gained skills and wealth from elsewhere and developed their communities.
He said Government cannot go it alone in the development of the country as it needs to service the whole country from a limited budgetary purse.
Cde Mayihlome said when Eng Mbambo brought the idea to him he took it to Parliament and the idea of BOT was endorsed.
“I’m on record having raised that with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development (Professor Mthuli Ncube) and Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister (Felix Mhona) and the Speaker of Parliament (Jacob Mudenda) ruled that we should go back to our communities and identify those roads which we could build operate and transfer,” said Cde Mayihlome.
He said a preliminary feasibility study was produced and submitted to Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Abednego Ncube among other senior Government officials in the province. -@nqotshili
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