GOVERNMENT on Wednesday pledged to complete the upgrading of the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway in the next 18 months.
Mashonaland West Provincial and Devolution Affairs minister Marian Chombo said the construction of the highway was critical hence the need to speed it up.
“As you may be aware, the Beitbridge-Chirundu Highway connects Zimbabwe and the rest of southern Africa hence it is important that we make sure it is completed on time,” Chombo told NewsDay in an interview on the sidelines of an Office of the Attorney-General strategic planning review workshop.
“Kariba is also a tourist destination and due to the state in which the road was, tourism was affected immensely but with the current project, we see Kariba as a tourist destination developing.”
The Beitbridge-Chirundu corridor is part of a trans-African highway from South Africa to Zambia and to the sub-region and beyond.
The highway is currently characterised by deep potholes wrought by heavy trucks carrying cargo to and from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Masimba, Bitumen World and Exodus have been contracted to handle the multi-million dollar project.
Some parts of the road are set to be widened, with the hope that at completion it will replicate the Harare-Beitbridge Highway which is nearing completion.
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