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Freeman Razemba–Senior Reporter 

A TOTAL of 41 tenders worth millions of United States dollars have been awarded by Government since last year to local public and private contractors for the construction, rehabilitation and routine maintenance of several roads countrywide under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2).

President Mnangagwa launched the US$400 million ERRP2, a countrywide initiative meant to improve the country’s road network and catch up on years of neglect by urban authorities.

More than 50 000km of roads have been rehabilitated and reconstructed while 2 000 structures have been attended to since the start of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2) in 2021 under a sustained road and infrastructure development drive by the Second Republic.

Zimbabwe has an estimated road network of 84 000km, out of which 93 percent of the network was in fair or poor condition and in need of rehabilitation or at least catching up on periodic maintenance.

More damage to roads was done by subsequent rains and the Government has been working to make the roads easily usable.

Ongoing road projects include pothole patching, grading, re-gravelling, spot dumping, wash away repairs, culverts construction, reseals and rehabilitation.

ERRP2 has also created several jobs as hundreds of people have been employed to work on the different projects.

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has gazetted its tender awards.

Contractors were awarded tenders for road construction, reconstruction and concrete works, rehabilitation, routine maintenance, supply and delivery of protective clothing, spot regravelling on selected sections and grading, provision of security services, road markings and supply and delivery of surveying equipment.

Notable tenders are the construction of an administration block at VID Forbes border post awarded to BSCC Civil Works, routine maintenance of Chivhu-Nyazura Road (Road Traffic), routine maintenance of Mutare-Masvingo Road (CMED), routine maintenance of Cross Dete-Kamativi Road (Drawlink), routine maintenance of Bulawayo-Solusi road (Mercelec Trans Star), routine maintenance of Chegutu-Chinhoyi road (Zinhondo Holdings), Kadoma-Chakari road (Road Trackers), Bindura-Mr Darwin-Mukumbura road (CMED), Mvurwi-Centenary-Muzarabani road (Earthlygate Precast), Mt Darwin-Rushinga (Drawlink), Harare-Shamva-Madziva (Gratric Trading), Bulawayo-Kezi (Road Trackers), Masvingo-Mbalabala (Drawlink) and Gweru-Mvuma Road which was awarded to Zada Construction.

There is also the routine maintenance of the Kwekwe-Gokwe (Sheasham Construction), Gweru-Zvishavane (Terra 7), Willowvale-Simon Mazorodze (Nail It Incorporated), Acturus Road (Country Cool), Samora Machel-Kambuzuma (Zinhondo Holdings), Harare Drive-E.D Mnangagwa (Zinhondo Holdings), Seke Road (Gratric Trading), Domboshava (Zinhondo Holdings), Mutare-Masvingo (Celfet Investments), Ngundu-Tanganda (Earthlygate Precast), Mutoko-Mayo (Samsons Plant), Mutoko-Nyamuzuwe (Rodirsty Con), Sadza-Murambinda (Samsons Plant), Mutoko-Rwenya ( Olyic Conprecast) and the reconstruction of Nyika-Zaka (Celfet Investments), among other major highways, rural and urban roads countrywide.

Road construction falls under the infrastructure cluster and roads are regarded as key economic enablers in line with the attainment of Vision 2030 of an upper middle income society.

In January, Government bought state-of-the-art equipment under ERRP through the CMED.

They included two road reclaimers, two D8 Bulldozers, four 20 000-litre water bowsers, two 20-tonne recovery trucks, three excavators, four graders, one double drum roller, three Padfoot Rollers, three pneumatic rollers, two chip spreaders, one front end loader, four 10-tonne lorries and one tractor horse.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona recently said negotiations between the Government and a potential investor for the rehabilitation of the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway and the Nyamapanda Border Post were underway.

The 235,8km Harare-Nyamapanda highway, which links Zimbabwe with Mozambique and Malawi, has been affected by an increase in traffic, especially haulage trucks carrying black granite from Murehwa and Mutoko.

Government has prioritised rehabilitation of major highways that include the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, where the rebuilding is almost complete, and now the Harare-Chirundu highway, the northern leg of the same main north-south highway.

The Harare-Mutare dualisation is also in progress, with a 46km stretch from Harare going towards Marondera already completed and opened to traffic.

Many other key highways are being rehabilitated, including the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, as good roads are critical for the movement of goods.

Infrastructure development is at the heart of the Second Republic, which is in line with the aspiration of attaining an empowered upper middle income society.