Govt hailed for road upgrade Cde Matiza

Rutendo Rori Mash East Correspondent
Villagers in Hwedza and Chikomba districts of Mashonaland East Province have hailed the Government for upgrading the Wedza-Sadza Road, and have called for the upgrade to be extended  to Chivhu.

The villagers said this after being addressed by Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza during his tour of roadworks taking place in Goromonzi, Hwedza and Sadza districts.

Ms Dorica Kurebwaseka said she was overwhelmed by the development in her area as it brought accessibility.

“We are so excited to see that the Government also cares about rural communities. We never dreamt of having a tarred road in our area. Our businesses will become more viable because of accessibility,” she said.

Another villager, Mr Joram Hanyani, expressed his wish was for Government to provide a ZUPCO bus which could ferry people from Hwedza to Chivhu since kombi operators were charging them exorbitant fares.

“Before our President came into office, the Wedza-Sadza road was in a bad state but as soon as he was sworn into office, we have seen a positive change in terms of roadworks. Our wish now is for the tarred road to be extended from Sadza to Chivhu or even Murambinda, to make it more accessible.

“We also wish to get a bus once the road has been completed. Kombi operators are charging us exorbitant fares and we need to bring an end to that,” he said.

Earlier Minister Matiza had urged communities to notify their local authorities if there were roads that needed attention.

“Government does not choose roads that need to be constructed. It is the community’s duty to notify local councillors and MPs. If you do that, your local authorities will then include those in their budgets,” he said.

“Councils should approach the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) to get funding. Some councils had gone for years without providing ZINARA with programmes of work and acquittals to enable the disbursement of funds, thereby delaying projects.

“We also carried out workshops with road authorities which are ZINARA, local authorities and the District Development Fund (DDF).”

The minister also said the Government was prioritising rural areas because of the support they got from the rural communities during elections.

“As a way of appreciating the rural communities for being supportive during elections, the Government will make sure that all roads in rural areas have been upgraded. We also promise to bring more buses to the rural communities.

“Most bridges and roads had been damaged by Cyclone Idai and were no longer accessible. As Government, we assure you that by 2023 the roads will be complete,” he said.

The ministry has since last year been on a major drive to repair, upgrade and construct roads in the country.

This has seen massive road rehabilitation and construction work in most parts of the country including Mashonaland East province.

In Mashonaland East there has been significant progress on the dualisation of the Harare-Mutare-Marondera Road.

Other major roads which are being worked on or have been rehabilitated in the province are Murehwa-Madicheche, Wedza-Marondera, Harare-Mubaira, Marondera-Musami and parts of Harare-Masvingo Road.

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