PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has extended the state of disaster of the country’s road network by another two years.
Announcing the extension through Statutory Instrument (SI) 151 of 2024 titled Civil Protection (Declaration of State of Disaster: Rural and Urban Areas of Zimbabwe) (Road Infrastructure Network) (Amendment) Notice, 2024 (No 1), Mnangagwa said the programme, which commenced in 2021, would proceed until 2026.
According to the SI, the Department of Roads will take over the rehabilitation and construction of major roads in cities with provincial road engineers superintending over all roads within their respective provinces.
“Whereas His Excellency the President declared a state of disaster in connection with the excessive damage to the road infrastructure network, a state of disaster exists in all rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe, on February 23, 2021, by Statutory Instrument 47 of 2021,” the latest SI read.
“Now, therefore, his Excellency the President, in terms of the provisions to section 27(2) of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter 10:06], by this declaration extends the operation of Statutory Instrument 47 of 2021 to December 31, 2026.”
In 2021, following the incessant rains that had resulted in excessive damage to the road infrastructure network countrywide, Mnangagwa declared a state of disaster in all rural and urban areas in the country.
His declaration led to the launch of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2), which had been extended to the end of this year.
More than 50 000km of roads were rehabilitated, while 2 000 structures were attended to since the start of the ERRP2 in 2022.
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