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Mutare Bureau

THE commissioning of the 23km Kopa-Jopa Road by President Mnangagwa yesterday attests to Government’s commitment to continually improve the livelihoods of Zimbabweans through infrastructural development.

The road, which was rehabilitated premised on the build-back-better principle was completed in 14 months at a cost of $1,2 billion.

The scope of the project includes the upgrading of four bridges from single lane low-level standard to double lane high-level standard. 

Rehabilitation of the road brought joy to the people of Chimanimani and Chipinge whose lives were devastated by the Cyclone Idai in March 2019.

Farmers would over the years watch their produce rot by the roadside, while transporters took advantage of the poor state of the road to rip-off the desperate villagers.

Villagers were made to pay as much as US$5 for the short journey to Chipinge, but after the completion of the road, they are now paying US$1.

ZUPCO buses have also come to the rescue of the villagers as they now ply the route.

When the March 2019 Cyclone Idai struck Chimanimani and some parts of Chipinge, the Kopa-Jopa Road that connects the two districts was damaged beyond use, and the completion of the road restored connectivity between the two neighbouring districts.

Part of the crowd that thronged the commissioning of the Kopa-Jopa Road in Chimanimani yesterday

The road re-establishes the direct link between farms around Rusitu Valley area and markets for fresh farm produce in Chipinge, Checheche, Chiredzi, Birchenough Bridge and beyond.

“I am happy to be here commissioning this Jopa-Kopa Road which had taken decades for it to be tarred. After Cyclone Idai devastated this area and the issue of this road was brought to my attention, I did not hesitate to give a nod to its refurbishment.

“This is a very important road to the people of Chimanimani and Chipinge especially farmers as they can easily take their produce to the market. They can now have easy access to medical facilities.

“This road is just a marvel and the volume of traffic plying this road has significantly improved bringing relief to the locals who over the years were subjected to exorbitant fares by motorists,” he said.

President Mnangagwa added: “I want to commend Bitumen World who were the contractors for the excellent work they exhibited here. All contractors should ensure that they adopt the build-back-better concept.

“One pleasing thing is that we used our own resources as a country to reconstruct all the roads that were damaged by Cyclone Idai. This shows that stone-by-stone and brick-by-brick we can reconstruct our infrastructure and economy.”

Other roads earmarked for refurbishment in Chimanimani include the Kopa-Machongwe, Machongwe-Rusitu Mission, Chimanimani- Cashel Valley and Kopa to Vimba roads.

“We want to ensure that all damaged infrastructure, be it roads, schools, clinics and houses are rehabilitated. Our people should lead comfortable lives,” said President Mnangagwa.

Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Felix Mhona said a poor road network undermines the potential of the transport system to contribute meaningfully to economic development.

“It is imperative therefore, that my ministry’s efforts in contributing to the Infrastructure and Utilities Pillar of Vision 2030 be driven from a road development and rehabilitation perspective.

“The successful completion of the Jopa-Kopa Road Project is against a backdrop of a broader Emergency Rehabilitation Programme which President Mnangagwa launched earlier this year, which programme continues to make strides in restoring and improving road infrastructure towards the successful realisation of Vision 2030,” he said.