The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
ALL is set for the rehabilitation of the province’s worst roads under Phase Two of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2), The Manica Post has learnt.
Some of the roads that had become a nightmare to travellers include Murambinda-Birchenough Bridge, Nyanga-Ruwangwe (Bhinya), Bircheough-Chipinge-Mt Selinda and Cashel-Chimanimani-Chikukwa roads.
For Mutare, plans are afoot to reduce traffic congestion at the Flyover along the Mutare-Chimanimani Road through its expansion.
Manicaland’s Department of Roads has since been given the nod to identify competent civil engineering registered contractors under the Flyover Road tender. Procurement of materials for the project commenced on Wednesday this week and will take a month to complete.
While addressing thousands of people who had gathered at Birchenough Bridge last Friday for the national clean-up campaign, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said work on the much-awaited Murambinda-Birchenough Bridge Road will commence on May 1.
“Our roads should not be death traps and should therefore be rehabilitated. Work on the Murambinda-Birchenough Bridge Road will commence on May 1. A number of roads across the province will also be rehabilitated. These projects should be speedily completed because they have been on the cards for a long time,” said VP Chiwenga.
Acting Manicaland Provincial Road Engineer, Engineer Kudzai Maganga confirmed the developments. He said there was a lot activity across the province this week as site visits were being conducted.
The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has also invited prospective registered bidders to participate in the tendering processes.
Eng Maganga said procurement of material for the Murambinda-Birchenough Bridge Road is already in progress. A site visit of the project was done on Tuesday.
“Procurement of material for the 5km Nyanga-Ruwangwe Road is also in progress, while the site visit was done on Wednesday. This also applies to the Birchenough Bridge-Chipinge-Mt Selinda Road.
“The construction work for the Murambinda-Birchenough, Nyanga-Ruwangwe and Birchenough-Chipinge-Mt Selinda Roads are expected to be complete in August. However, we cannot disclose the budgets yet since these projects are still on the procurement stage,” said Eng Maganga.
He said the procurement process for material for the Chimanimani-Chikukwa Road will take a month.
As for the Flyover Section, Eng Maganga said the project is already taking shape.
“Authority was granted for the department to source for competent civil engineering registered contractors to participate in the tendering process. The procurement process will take a month from today (Wednesday).”
He also disclosed that tenders were also invited for contractors to repair internal roads at Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital in Mutare. Work on that project will commence in June.
Eng Maganga said all roads that lead into and out of Mutare’s Central Business District that fall under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development’s Department of Roads will be resurfaced using aphalt concrete to promote the smooth flow of traffic.
Turning to the rehabilitation of road infrastructure that was damaged by Tropical Storm Ana, Eng Maganga said work is progressing well on the Nyabamba Bridge in Chimanimani.
“The contractor is expected to finish work by mid-May. The construction of a new Twin River Bridge and Mutyira Causeway were awarded to Bitumen World (Private) Limited. The sites are awaiting handover. As for Gairezi River Bridge, we are finalizing the procurement of repair works,” he said.
Late last year, Transport and Infrastructural Development Deputy Minister Mike Madiro underscored the need to invest in a good road network.Speaking during a tour of Mount Selinda Border Post, Deputy Minister Madiro said the country is losing revenue due to the poor state of the roads leading to some of the country’s borders.
“When I visited Mount Selinda Border Post, I was surprised by the state of the road from the border to Chipinge Town.
“The road is in bad shape and there is a difference with our Mozambican neighbour’s road. They have a state-of-the-art road leading to their border, but from our side there is virtually no road to talk about.
“This is forcing transporters to shun us and choose other routes. The Mount Selinda-Chipinge Road is a key route to the country due to its proximity to the Sea Port of Beira,” he said.
A good road network is a key enable of economic growth as it makes the movement of raw materials, fuel, equipment, etcetera, to the places of production easy.
