The ManicaPost
Abel Zhakata
Senior Reporter
ALL major roads in Manicaland will be in perfect condition before the onset of the rainy season as the Government races against time to rehabilitate the damaged network under the second phase of the Emergence Road Rehabilitation Programme, it has been established.
Roads are vital to the country’s economic development agenda that will see the country’s economy attaining middle-income status by 2030 as they link producers to markets, workers to their jobs and the sick to hospitals.
Manicaland Provincial Development Co-ordinator, Mr Edgars Seenza said the Government is closely monitoring progress to ensure that all road authorities work round the clock to repair roads under their areas of jurisdiction.
He said several private companies were contracted to rehabilitate some of the roads, but bottlenecks associated with the tendering process are stalling progress.
“The target at the moment set by road authorities is that all major roads will be accessible before the onset of the rainy season. On Friday (today), we will meet all the 12 road authorities in the province which are the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, District Development Fund (DDF) and the 10 local authorities. The purpose of the meeting is to get feedback on progress made to date.
“Generally, we are happy with the progress on the ground in terms of the ongoing road repairs, though I want to see more work being done, especially on some roads where private contractors were engaged.
“Some of the contractors are not yet on the ground as road authorities are following tendering procedures. While this process causes some delays here and there, we cannot ignore it as it is a requirement.
“According to the reports that I received early this week, some of the contractors are on the ground. The Government is funding everything and once a road authority acquits previous disbursements, the Government immediately pours in more money for road repairs. That is how it works,” he said.
Mr Seenza said most roads are now pot hole free.
“Most roads are now pothole free and we are now working on roads that need a bit of resurfacing. In urban and rural areas, we are also encouraging the local authorities to ensure that all major roads are completed,” he said.
In Mutare, Kumbirai Kangai (formerly Aerodrome Road) and Magamba roads are now pothole-free after their recent resurfacing through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and the city council.
In Chipinge Town Council’s Wards One to Four, Superpower Construction (Pvt) Limited is working on the roads. The roads were in a poor state with gullies on the carriageway.
The poor state of the roads was also attributed to the poor drainage infrastructure, hence the need to invest in culvert installation and drain lining in order to preserve the investment on the roads.
The scope of works includes 1.62km grading, formation, gravelling, compaction, drain lining and culvert construction. The compaction will be carried out by the Department of Roads.
The Nyazvidzi Parallel Road in Buhera is being worked on by Field of Hope.
The work commenced before ERRP 2 and is ongoing with grading and spot gravelling completed on close to 50km. The road is a major route which services the south-western parts of Buhera.
It also services 15 schools and three clinics.
“The work includes verge clearing, grading and spot gravelling. The progress is very slow due to frequent equipment breakdowns and long turnaround repairs time, thus the work is behind schedule. About 47.5km has been graded and 5.7km spot gravelling has been achieved and the work quality is good with good camber and drainage,” said Mr Seenza.
Contigan Construction (Pvt) Ltd is doing Changamire Road.
“The road was in a very poor state with gullies and rock outcrops on the carriageway and side drains, making it very difficult to drive through. The scope of works is 15km bush clearing, road formation and gravelling.
“The road services six schools, a clinic, business centres and communities as well the area where families affected by Cyclone Idai are being resettled. The contractor started work on May 19 and has since completed 10km of verge clearing, of which 4km were done by a dozer, 10km road formation and 8.7km gravelling. About 33 culverts have been de-silted using in-house manual labour. The work is scheduled to be completed by end of August.
“The work being executed by Bitumen World is ongoing along Kopa-Jopa Road. The road is a critical route linking Chipinge and Chimanimani. It serves the Rusitu Valley which has prime banana and fruit plantations that supply most parts of the country. The road also services Roscommon tea estates, hydro-power station, Kopa Rural Service Centre and Rusitu Misson,” said Mr Seenza.
He said the Tilbury Extension and Chimanimani Village Roads were severely damaged by Cyclone Idai and had become un-trafficable with gullies and boulders deposited by floods on the roads.
“The work is 8km of road formation, gravelling and culvert construction and is being executed by Gwenzi Construction. About 8km road formation has been completed as well as 0.8km gravelling and a two barrel x 750mm culvert. Dumping of gravel on the remaining section is in progress and the progress is commendable, with good workmanship and good camber.
“The terrain is very steep, which makes the roads prone to damage due to high speed of runoff, thus it is prudent to consider surfacing the roads as a long term solution. Gravel is also very scarce in the area, thus resulting in long haul distances which culminate in high project costs,” he said.
When Cyclone Idai hit Ngangu Township in Chimanimani, road infrastructure was destroyed.
The scope of work there includes 5.4km grading and compacted gravelling, drain lining and drainage structures.
The work done by the contractor include 5.4km road formation to provide good sub-grade and then 2.5km gravelling.
“The work has greatly enhanced accessibility of roads in the area and the community is very grateful,” said Mr Seenza.
