More than 340km of Hre —Beit road upgrade complete
SAMUEL NJINGA
More than 340 kilometres of the Harare- Beitbridge highway is now complete and open to traffic, Business Times can report.
The rehabilitation and upgrading of what is probably the busiest national highway, is being undertaken by several local contractors. Speaking after a tour of the project by the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, ZINARA and government officials, Transport and Infrastructural Development minister, Felix Mhona said the government’s robust infrastructure development was bearing fruit.
“The highway that the delegates have used all the way from Harare to Beitbridge is being upgraded by our local contractors.
“At least 343 kilometres as we speak of the Harare-Beitbridge highway have so far been opened to the public as government`s robust infrastructural development continues to bear positive fruits.
“The face and complication of Beitbridge town has indeed changed and I am happy that you are here to see this development for yourself.
“This project dove-tails with our vision of creating an upper middle class economy by 2030,” Mhona said.
He described the Harare-Beitbridge as well as the Beitbridge border post as a major economic activity that positions Zimbabwe as a transport hub and gateway into the SADC region.
In his welcome speech, the Member of Parliament for Beitbridge East legislator, Albert Nguluve, applauded the government for the rehabilitation of the road which had recorded a number of road traffic accidents.
“We lost a lot of lives as a nation due to road accidents and now the government has remembered us. Accidents are gradually coming to an end. Our highway is now good.
“Our next target is now an airport.”
The chairperson for Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, Dumisani Muleya said the purpose of the tour was to enable journalists to do their job in a professional and credible way.
“As journalists our function in society is very critical. It is to inform the various constituencies that we deal with. It is to hold people in authority to account because they run our public affairs.
“They use the public funds to run the affairs of the State, cities and towns. In so doing they should be accountable to the public,” Muleya said.
He added: “The road was slowly becoming a national disaster on its own. This is not just a Harare-Beitbridge highway. It is a trade corridor linking the south to the north via Zimbabwe.”
