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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has relocated the tollgate between Hwange and Victoria Falls to a new site south of the coal mining town.This was done to ensure that the facility is not situated in an area where there are wild animals.

The is the second time that the location has been changed after the first site near St Mary’s led to a legal war between the government and the Hwange Local Board which claimed it was stationed within its expansion zone.

The government erected a new structure west of Hwange town on the Hwange-Victoria Falls Road, but sometimes it was abandoned as workers were terrorised by wild animals.

A new toll gate has now been built in Lukosi area, about 20km outside Hwange towards Bulawayo and it is already functional.

In a recent interview, Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Munesu Munodawafa said the new site would be a permanent one as the government moves to establish 30 more toll gates countrywide.

“We had a problem with the Hwange Toll Gate because where it was there were some legal implications as the council took us to court. They said it was in their zone and the facility was moved to the other end of town where we received reports of wild animals terrorising workers at night,” said Munodawafa.

“Now it has moved to a new site. We will look into the legal position in terms of what to do with the old one, to see whether both of them can operate because the toll gates are gazetted,” he said responding to a question whether government would consider having two toll gates in Hwange since there is a high volume of traffic operating between Hwange and Victoria Falls en-route to Zambia.

The government plans to build 30 more tollgates as it intensifies measures to raise more funds to finance road infrastructure development.

This will bring to 52, the number of tollgates countrywide, nine of which have already been upgraded into toll plazas.

The government reportedly collects about $3 million monthly from tollgates, a figure that it argues is not enough for road infrastructure construction and rehabilitation.

Zinara recently said it needs about $5 billion to revamp the country’s road infrastructure.

The government has embarked on a massive road infrastructure development programme and has courted foreign investors to work on some of the projects under the Build, Operate and Transfer basis.