ZIMBABWE’S road rehabilitation programme will extend well beyond the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Summit, a senior government official confirmed this week.
Transport and Infrastructural Development permanent secretary Joy Makumbe told the Zimbabwe Independent that the ongoing road revamp initiative was not merely a cosmetic effort to impress Sadc leaders, who gathered in Harare for the regional summit on August 17.
At the summit, President Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed the chairmanship of Sadc.
Makumbe said the ministry has a long-term vision for the country’s road network, which is being implemented under the Emergency National Roads Rehabilitation Programme.
As part of the plan, road rehabilitation works have begun in various residential areas across the country, including those in desperate need of repair.
Many access roads in high-density suburbs are now in a bad state. Makumbe said this was why the ministry had shifted focus to rehabilitate them.
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Recently, government opened to traffic 11th Avenue in Westlea in Harare. This was barely a week after to opening 4th Avenue, which links Warren Park and Kambuzuma in Harare, among others.
Roads that were impacted by the closure of main roads to make way for rehabilitation were also now being attended to.
These include Malborough Drive, Faber Road and Perth Road in the capital.
Makumbe said: “For us to meet the target of transforming our economy to an upper middle income status by 2030 we need to have a good road network.
“We have a deliberate plan to ensure that we upgrade our national road infrastructure and this is precisely what we are doing. I know in some circles people were saying that we have intensified road projects because of the Sadc Summit but that is not true. The summit is now behind us and the road works will continue as planned.”
He said work around the country continued with the recent opening to traffic of the Wedza-Bonongwe highway as well as works on the Victoria Chitepo Hospital access road in Manicaland.
The Shurugwi-Mandamabwe project was also progressing, with about 13 kilometers expected to be completed and opened to traffic soon.
In Harare, residents in Warren Park and Dzivarasekwa commended the government for coming to their rescue.
“We are more than happy with is development,” a Warren Park resident Samuel Mazorodze said. “We were incurring huge suspension costs when we take our vehicles for service because of the potholes that had become a permanent feature on our roads.
“We hope this project is going to cover all the roads in Harare so that our city can reclaim its sunshine city status.”
Felistas Mandaza of Dzivaresekwa had this to say: “When we saw roads leading to the new Parliament being rehabilitated, we concluded that this was only being done for the Sadc Summit. However, we were gladly proven wrong when we saw contractors swiftly mobilising their equipment here in Dzivaresekwa to attend to our road.”