RYAN CHIGOCHE
The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) emergency road rehabilitation programme is on course as it had disbursed about 30% of the ZWL$17bn in the first quarter to give a facelift to the country’s roads, Business Times can report.
In February, ZINARA said it had a budget of ZWL$17bn budget for the rehabilitation of the country roads to be disbursed to local authorities.
ZINARA board chairman George Manyaya told journalists on Monday during a tour of some roads being rehabilitated that the Authority has already disbursed ZWL$5bn. Sites visited were Seke Road, St Patricks, Harare Drive, Delport roads.
“At the beginning of the year we made a pledge to Zimbabwe first of all to have a rebranded ZINARA. We made a pledge that we are going to distribute ZWL$17bn to all the road authorities in Zimbabwe. So for the first quarter we have actually completed distributing ZWL$5bn we have paid 10% for the road authorities to commence works,” Manyaya said.
“We first trained the road authorities for the first two months by going around training them on how to actually conduct this project and now they are ready. I am happy to say that 2022 is the year of infrastructure revolution we will continue to make sure that we continue disbursing funds.”
Zimbabwe’s roads are dilapidated with the government last year declaring all roads a state of national disaster to fast-track their rehabilitation.
Delport Road, which connects Epworth, is almost complete with 5km of the road left.
Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Felix Mhona said Delport was of strategic importance as it connects with the airport.
“To highlight the importance of this road, Delport is not going to only connect Epworth but connects the major utility that we can talk of the airport. It will also promote trade through connecting Special Economic Zones as you know Sunway City has been declared a special economic zone and we are constructing a direct link road from the Sunway city to the airport,” Mhona said.
“I’m happy that we have done 11 km and for us to connect with the Special Economic Zones we are just left with less than 5km.”
He vowed that they will be going to the grassroots level, that is the locations taking the responsibility from City Council who have done next to nothing in maintaining roads.
“If you look at city roads that are supposed to be under the care of local authorities, the roads were not being maintained. We are now going to the grassroots as the Ministry rehabilitates the roads,” Mhona said.
