GOVERNMENT expects to start routine maintenance of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway by mid next month after inviting tenders that close next week for the road’s rehabilitation.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development wants capable contractors to show interest in the highway’s rehabilitation which should start by March 15. The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road is in a sorry state and the prevailing rains have worsened it.
Last year, President Mnangagwa instructed the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to fix the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway considering its strategic importance to the economy.
The latest tender to fix the road is for the routine maintenance of the entire highway and the transport ministry has previously said the complete rehabilitation of the road will be implemented once Government completes the reconstruction the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu Highway.
Responding to questions, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development secretary Engineer Theodious Chinyanga said Government is aware of the dire state of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway. He said Government has since opened up a tender to invite companies with capacity to fix the road.
“The immediate interventions being employed on the road as a stopgap measure comprise intensive routine maintenance with occasional periodic maintenance targeted at the worst sections. The provincial roads engineer is patching potholes along the route and by 21 February, pothole patching had been completed between Bulawayo and Lupane,” he said.
“At the same time, the ministry is running a tender for the routine maintenance of the entire route from Beitbridge to Victoria Falls through Bulawayo.
This tender, which closes on the 27 of February 2023, also includes isolated rehabilitation of the worst sections. Works are expected to start in earnest by the 15th of March 2023.”
Eng Chinyanga said the rains being experienced have worsened the country’s road network.
He said more funds might be needed for road rehabilitation considering that the country is likely to be affected by Cyclone Freddy.
“The Government is cognisant of the fact that the worst of the weather is not past us and is assessing the situation and will continue to do so until the end of the rain season. You may be aware that it is expected that Cyclone Freddy will dump considerable moisture over the country and therefore more damages to road infrastructure can be expected,” he said. “Government will therefore be informed by these and other rainfall events over what would need to be done to augment the available resources.”
Eng Chinyanga said Government is also blacklisting some contractors found to be doing shoddy jobs.
This come as some of the roads that were fixed under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2).
“It is true that some of the roads that have been rehabilitated under ERRP2 have since been worn out. However, it should be noted and understood that the wearing of rehabilitated roads is not limited to shoddy work. There are a number of reasons why roads wear out,” said Eng Chinyanga.
“In cases where shoddy work has been detected and reported, Government has withheld payment pending remedying of the defects. Contractors which have been found to be at fault regards shoddy work have been debarred from participating in Government tenders across all roads authorities.”
Meanwhile, Government has started rehabilitating a 10km road stretch in the Mazunga area along the Beitbridge to Bulawayo road.
Already a contractor, Step and Path is on the ground working on a 5km detour to divert traffic from the damaged road.
The road will be fixed in two phases and it is reported the company is now mobilising more earth moving equipment to the site.
Project Manager, Mr Brian West said they have already started hiring people from nearby villages for menial labour and they will only bring few technical staff from Bulawayo.
He said they will resurface a badly damaged 10km road stretch in the affected area.
“We have started working on the first 5km of detour and we will open it soon to traffic and then move to carryout civil works on the main road,” said Mr West.
“The entire project will cover 10km fully surfaced road and we are hoping to complete it in the shortest possible time. So, while we are fixing the detour, we are also mobilising more machinery to the site,” said Mr West.
He said in some parts of the road they will have to fix potholes during the course of the road construction process.
Mr West said they have also identified sites to extract gravel to use on the road since most of the area is covered by black clay soils.
“We are doing the works in two phases. So were starting on 5km and then move to another segment,” he added.
In separate interviews, motorists and Beitbridge residents welcomed the move by Government to fix the road which is now riddled with potholes.
Chief Stauze of Beitbridge said Government has fulfilled its promise to attend to people’s concerns.
He said they were looking forward to the completion of the project.
“This a good move by our Government, I use that road more often and its current state is disturbing,” said the traditional leader.
“In fact, that part of the road was causing nightmares for most motorists and it’s a huge relief that it is now being fixed. We would take longer than necessary to drive through that area and besides some vehicles were incurring damages especially the tyres.”
A motorist from the border town, Mr Jabulani Makhado said the poor state of the road had become a great cause for concern for the community.
He said the state of affairs had seen many people loosing lives in accidents around the same stretch.
Mr Makhado said the road was one of the major arteries that facilitates regional and international trade for Zimbabwe.
“As a community, we appreciate the efforts by our government to address our challenges. You will note that in some instances, the road had been a cause of most road traffic accidents.
It is our hope that road carnages will be reduced along that area and motorists would be able to travel on schedule,” he said.
Last year, President Mnangagwa said the Second Republic was leaving no stone unturned in terms of spreading economic and infrastructure development in Zimbabwe.
He made the remarks at Dulivhadzimu Stadium in Beitbridge East constituency soon after commissioning the US$300 million border transformation project.
“As a Government, we are building our country, and that includes the fixing of roads because the development of any country hinges on economic trade locally, regionally, and internationally,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said a tender had been awarded to a contractor to fix the Beitbridge to Bulawayo road, but after a year without progress, Government is considering giving that tender to someone who will be able to deliver.
The President said more roads were being upgraded and rehabilitated under the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Program (ERRP).
The President said the government has the much-needed resources to fully implement the ERRP.
In Matabeleland South, President Mnangagwa said the Gwanda to Maphisa, West Nicholson to Mberengwa, Stanmore to Filabusi, and the Plumtree to Ndolwane roads will be urgently fixed under the ERRP programme. – The Chronicle
