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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls City Council Town Clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube, has appealed for urgent Government intervention in rehabilitating the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road to buttress the growth of the tourism sector as well as boost logistical efficiency for businesses.
He was speaking here recently, making reference to the dilapidated portions of the strategic highway, which is now littered with potholes, saying this was having a negative impact on tourism.
As the country’s tourism capital and conference centre with state-of-the-art facilities, the state of the 437km road leading to the city from Bulawayo is no longer commensurate with its strategic growth, said the Town Clerk.
The situation is bad especially 40km either side of Hwange town and between Gwayi River and Halfway, as well as between Mbembesi River and Insuza, making driving especially at night a nightmare.
Many motorists have suffered tyre punctures after hitting potholes some of which are more than ankle deep.
“While on the aviation side we have done very well with more airlines coming, we have a challenge with the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway and we have lost count of the potholes on the road,” said Mr Dube.
“I challenge the Minister of Transport (Felix Mhona) to smell the coffee that we cannot talk about Victoria Falls being a capital of tourism, which is only accessible by air. It is a fact that the road is in a bad shape.”
He also challenged legislators, especially those from Umguza, Lupane East and Lupane West, Hwange East, Hwange Central and Hwange West to push for the urgent fixing of the road in Parliament.
“Most of our ministers come to Victoria Falls by air. One day I would ask the President (Mnangagwa) to compel them to drive to Victoria Falls so that they can see the state of the road because when we are not accessible by road, it means that most of our people cannot visit Victoria Falls,” said Mr Dube.
“We cannot promote domestic tourism with this kind of road. It’s in a terrible state and with the onset of the rains, I shudder to think of accidents that will take place and lives that will be lost. It’s actually a death trap.
“I’ve never heard any of them (MPs) speak about the state of our road and challenge the Minister of Transport to come and fix it.”
Transport and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Michael Madiro who was in Victoria Falls recently acknowledged that the road was in bad state and said the Government was exploring new technologies that can ensure the durability of the road infrastructure.
He was commenting on what has become a culture of filling and mending the same potholes every year.
“We are deep into the rainy season and there are technical challenges that are in such an environment in terms of road construction and repairs,” said Deputy Minister Madiro.
“However, with advanced technology, we will continue but at a slower pace. Potholes are a challenge in the rainy season and we are emphasizing the importance of developing technology so that durability of our roads is enhanced.”
The Deputy Minister said fixing the same roads every year has environmental hazards as it causes silting of rivers and dams.
He challenged engineers to be innovative and come up with technology which will stabilise roads while also calling on contractors to rehabilitate or build roads of high-quality standard.
The Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) is rehabilitating a section of the road near Victoria Falls, which had been damaged by rains and become a risk.
Various stakeholders had expressed concern about delays in fixing the road section, which was threatening to cave in.
Deputy Minister Madiro said the Government was excited by the progress being made where a detour has been opened to allow repair of the road to take place.
Government has said full rehabilitation of the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway will only start after the completion of the ongoing upgrade of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway.
Rehabilitation and upgrading of the country’s road network is among key National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) projects.
The Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway connects Zimbabwe to South Africa and Zambia and passes through Beitbridge Border Post, which is Sadc’s busiest inland port.
The Government had engaged a South African firm, Khato Civils, to rehabilitate the highway under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement in 2019 but later cancelled the deal after the company delayed implementing the project. – @ncubeleon
Online Reporter