Zimpapers Logo

Government needs about $100 million to repair road infrastructure destroyed by floods during the last rainy season. The work includes, among others, repair of bridges, some of which were washed away. The President Cde Mugabe declared the floods which ravaged most parts of the country, a state of disaster.

The declaration was meant to enable the Government to mobilise the required resources to assist the thousands of people affected by the floods. Most roads are in a terrible state following the heavy rains received in most parts of the country and there is therefore an urgent need to start the repair work.

Most farmers who are expecting a bumper harvest this year have started harvesting their crops and the bulk of the produce has to be delivered to the Grain Marketing Board depots dotted throughout the country. Most roads have been rendered impassable by the floods which in some cases washed way bridges.

These roads should be repaired before farmers start delivering their produce to the GMB and other markets. The Government, given its competing priorities, cannot raise the required funding to repair the roads and bridges as well as assist affected families.

It is because of this realisation that Government has appealed to international partners, local donors and the private sector to assist in mobilising the required resources. A number of local and international donors have already responded positively to this appeal which is very encouraging.

We want at this juncture to commend local mining companies, Unki and Mimosa, for raising a combined $102 000 towards the rehabilitation of Nkankezi bridge in Filabusi, Matabeleland South province.

The bridge links Matabeleland South with Zvishavane and the rest of the Midlands province. It is our fervent hope that other local companies will emulate the two companies and also contribute towards the rehabilitation of the road infrastructure.

The positive indicators of an economic turnaround require a good road network hence the need for the country to concentrate on rehabilitation of the road infrastructure. Government, we want to believe, has already drawn up its priority list of roads that need to be repaired to enable farmers to deliver their produce to the market.

Most companies are relying on road transport to deliver either raw materials or finished products and these companies could contribute to the rehabilitation of the road infrastructure by adopting sections of the roads they are using.

We expect for example, Unki Mine in Shurugwi to contribute to the rehabilitation of the road from Shurugwi town to the mine as its buses and trucks use this road daily.

In the event such as system is adopted by many companies, it could see major busy roads being repaired in a short period of time thereby improving the road network which, as already alluded to, is crucial for economic growth.

The good rains received last season had both positive and negative impact on the country’s economic growth so the challenge is to turn the negatives into positives. We totally agree with the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere that when rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure, the thrust should be to go beyond emergency response to building back a better infrastructure.

What this means is that we should build better bridges compared to those that were destroyed by the floods and our repaired roads should have longer lifespans.

We want to once again appeal to companies to assist in the repair of our roads and bridges which are critical for the movement of goods and services.