THE completion of massive infrastructure projects initiated by Government will spur the country’s quest of becoming a middle-income society by 2030, Parliament’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Portfolio Committee has said.
A report tabled in Parliament following the Committee’s countrywide assessment of infrastructure development projects being implemented countrywide says they include dams, roads, houses, ports of entry among others.
Some of the projects had stalled during the era of the First Republic, but were resuscitated by President Mnangagwa’s administration and have either been completed or are well on the way to completion with work still in progress.
“The Committee appreciates the commitment by the Government to construct or upgrade all the critical public utility infrastructure in Zimbabwe that have been on the drawing board or that have stalled for a long time.
“It is worth noting that upon completion, most of these projects would change the narrative for Zimbabwe as it strives to attain Vision 2030, which is to become ‘a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society by 2030,” reads the report.
Some of the development projects being implemented by Government include the expansion and upgrade of the Beitbridge Border Post, dualisation and refurbishment of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, refurbishment of many other roads across the country under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2, expansion of the Hwange Thermal Power Station with the addition of Units 7 and 8, expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, drilling of 35 000 boreholes across the country and construction of gold service centres among others.
A major dam construction programme is seeing new dams like the Gwayi-Shangani, Tuli-Manyange and Kunzvi coming up while many clinics and classrooms have been or are under construction using devolution funds.
The committee recommended that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development timeously releases funds to ensure that the work is completed within set timeframes, with particular emphasis on Gwayi-Shangani, the giant dam and the pipeline to Bulawayo, which are both urgently needed.
The Committee also recommended that payment be costed in US dollars and only converted to local currency on the date of payment to cater for inflation, with this switchover in costing done by next month. – The Herald
