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Government has embarked on a programme to upgrade the country’s major highways to improve the road network in order to facilitate the smooth movement of goods and services as well as reduce accidents. Work on the upgrading of the 800km Plumtree-Mutare highway is almost complete and work on the dualisation of the Harare-Masvingo- Beitbridge highway is expected to start soon. The Plumtree-Mutare highway upgrading which involved widening the road’s shoulders, was undertaken jointly by South African company Group Five and Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) at a cost of more than $200 million.

The government last Friday invited consulting engineering firms to submit bids for the dualisation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway. The dualisation has been segmented into four sectors and these are the Harare-Chivhu (120km) Chivhu-Masvingo (147km), Masvingo-Rutenga (149km) and Rutenga-Beitbridge (135 km). The dualisation of the highway is expected to spur economic development not only in Zimbabwe but across the Sadc region.

The dualisation of the highway is also expected to reduce accidents which have been blamed on the narrow road which makes overtaking risky on most portions. The road is an important link between Zimbabwe, South Africa and other Sadc countries such as Zambia, Malawi and the DRC. Most of the country’s major highways have outlived their lifespan hence the decision by government to embark on this multi-million dollar programme to upgrade them. The government has identified infrastructural development as one of the key components of the country’s economic development blueprint, Zim-Asset. It is for this reason that government is committed to spending millions of dollars on infrastructural development such as upgrading of roads and construction of bridges.

It is therefore disturbing to learn that there are individuals who do not seem to appreciate the importance of having good roads. Sections of the Plumtree-Mutare highway whose upgrading, as already stated, is nearing completion, is under threat from illegal gold panners. The illegal gold panners have invaded the highway’s 30KM stretch between Kwekwe city and Munyati River and their operations are approaching the shoulders of the highway.

According to Environmental Management Agency officials, some panners are digging for gold just a metre away from the highway shoulders and this cannot be allowed to continue. The millions of dollars that have been spent in upgrading this highway will go to waste unless the activities of panners are stopped forthwith. We want at this juncture to implore the police to immediately arrest the panners who are just after making a quick buck.

The Plumtree-Mutare highway is an important road linking the country’s major cities and towns and all efforts should be directed at ensuring that this national asset is protected. The government should send a very clear message that it will be ruthless to individuals that threaten national assets such as roads. The upgraded highways should serve the country for many years to come and this is only possible if they are protected from selfish individuals such as gold panners. The police should immediately come up with a programme to patrol major highways and arrest individuals threatening to damage roads.