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Walter Nyamukondiwa Kariba Bureau

WORK on tarring of the Karoi-Binga Road is set to resume after Government committed to funding the second phase of the project since the completion of the first 10km-stretch.

The initial part of the second phase will reportedly cover a further 5km stretch, starting just after Zvipani Business Centre as Government through the District Development Fund (DDF) pushes to eventually cover the 334km Binga-Karoi Highway.  Hurungwe District development coordinator Mr Andrew Tizora said there were indications that funding for the next 5km stretch was set to be released soon, paving way for the resumption of the project.

“There are indications that work will resume soon after release of funds tentatively covering the next 5km which speaks to great progress in terms of having the road finished,” said Mr Tizora.

The project began in 2019 and is expected to considerably shorten the distance between Harare, Binga and subsequently Victoria Falls making the pairing of Kariba, Mana Pools and other tourist attractions possible.

Once complete, it will also help promote trade and development in previously marginalised areas along the highway including Siakobvu, Mola in Kariba district, parts of Gokwe and Binga.

Sources associated with the project said the release of funds by Government was now the only hurdle towards its resumption.

“As far as the project is concerned everything else is on course and after completion of the first phase we now wait for signal from the Ministry of Finance to avail funding so that it resumes,” said the source.

Government has undertaken massive road projects in the country using a self-funding model leveraging on the two percent intermediated tax on electronic transfers, in a development that is expected to revamp the country’s infrastructure. Under the model, 10km blocks of the road will be worked on depending on availability of funds until the road is complete. Its completion is expected to ease the high transport cost for the travelling public and ease movement of farm and mining produce to the market.

Around 100km of the road is now tarred with Zupco buses now expected to travel to Zvipani and other areas once lockdown restrictions are lifted. The nearly 200km distance between Karoi and Siakobvu takes up to four hours owing to the poor state of the road, which has loose gravel and mounds of sand at the centre of the road.