ZWG90 million for Harare-Chirundu road patching as upgrade set for September

Conrad Mupesa

Mashonaland West Bureau

CONTRACTORS working on the 356km Harare-Chirundu Highway upgrade have begun pothole patching on the stretches badly affected by rains.

Patching of the strategic highway comes at a time when the Government is finalising modalities for its upgrade, expected to commence this September.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Advocate Felix Mhona recently said that the Government had set aside ZWG90 million for the rehabilitation of the road.

“The Government has availed ZWG90mil to contractors who are supposed to upgrade the road to patch the stretches that are bad,” Minister Mhona said.

The rainy season, which came as a blessing to the agricultural sector, left the road buttered with dangerous potholes.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Ms Judith Nhau, said the Government was committed to rehabilitating the road, adding that patching was temporary to restore basic safety.

“Patching alone cannot deliver lasting improvements. Government is committed to rehabilitating this corridor to a standard befitting its strategic importance,” she said.

Motorists and the public said the move was long overdue. The rehabilitation of the road, Minister Mhona said, will further strengthen Zimbabwe’s position as a strategic gateway to SADC markets, in line with the Government’s infrastructure-led development agenda spearheaded by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.