Staff Reporter
Refurbishment of Seke Road, which connects the capital Harare and Chitungwiza is expected to kick-start on 18 August 2021 after Government awarded a contract for the job to Bitumen World Limited.
In a statement released yesterday, the company said that it had been contracted by the Department of Roads in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development to kick-start the project under the Emergency Rehabilitation Road Programme Phase 2 (ERRP 2).
The Government budgeted $33.6 billion for the ERRP 2 and Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) has since disbursed over $2.3 billion as the Second Republic intensifies efforts to rehabilitate the country’s ailing road network.
“The reconstruction of a road necessitates rerouting of the traffic that normally uses the road. The reconstruction will be closing off portions of the dual carriageway such that single lane traffic will operate on the remaining open carriageway,” reads part of the statement by Bitumen.
The reconstruction is expected to take three months to complete.
The contract is in line with the National Development Strategy (2021-2025), launched by the government to achieve Vision 2030 and focuses on consolidation and transforming priority areas that will address the country’s development challenges through maintenance and repair of existing assets.
Meanwhile, over 200 kilometres of road have been reconstructed and opened to traffic on the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, underlining progress being made by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership towards the attainment of Vision 2030. To date, 1 500 jobs have been created in road construction, with more employment opportunities to be opened up as the project progresses. Completion of the entire road is expected next year, opening up vast economic opportunities enhancing intra-Africa trade under the North-South corridor.
The Government also took over more than 700 km of roads mostly from the MDC-Alliance-led local authorities countrywide for rehabilitation after years of damage and neglect. Under ERRP, the Government will now work on 192 high impact roads from urban councils across the country.
Under the Emergence Road Repair Program Phase 2, the Government is targeting to rehabilitate 10 000km of roads nationwide.
Government has put ZW$139.8 billion under Infrastructure Investment Programme for 2021 in its NDS phase 1 with the roads and transport sector expected to gain.
