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Munesu Munodawafa

Prosper Ndlovu in Harare

A NEW transport infrastructure master plan is on the cards with government set to inject $1.3 million into the project which will guide the development of the transport network in line with the economic trends in the country, a senior official said yesterday.

In his presentation during the 6th Zimbabwe Mining Infrastructure Development Indaba, which ends here today, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Munesu Munodawafa, said the country’s transport system should be re-modelled to suit its economic needs.

“We’re working on a transport master plan and we’re in the process of engaging a consultancy firm. We’ve secured $1.3 million funding for the project to remodel the transport system in the country,” he said.

“The master plan should be guided by the economic activity in the country and support key economic sectors such as mining and agriculture. We expect to finalise the tender process for the consultancy soon and expect work to start by December this year. Six months down the line, we expect to have the first draft.”

Munodawafa said the proposed master plan would cover the road, rail, aviation and e-government aspects of the network to ensure effective development.

He said the recapitalisation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe was a priority for the ministry as the parastatal was a key driver of the economy.
Munodawafa insisted that the $460 million loan for NRZ recapitalisation from the Development Bank of Southern Africa was certain to come and hoped the company would be able to stand on its feet and move 12 million tonnes of cargo that it used to ship at its peak.

He said the funding would be used to rehabilitate the NRZ rail network, procure new wagons and locomotives and repair the obsolete signals infrastructure.

Munodawafa said 80 graders bought by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) for local authorities last year had started yielding positive results with about 20,000km of rural road network having been re-surfaced after more than 10 years of neglect.

He said the multi-million dollar Plumtree-Mutare highway rehabilitation project was 90 percent complete with prospects of completion by end of the year.

However, road rehabilitation was very costly with almost half a million dollars spent on rehabilitating a one-kilometre stretch.
Munodawafa said the increase in toll fees had begun, adding more revenue towards road development with Zinara targeting to raise $102 million from toll fees by December.

On aviation transport, the permanent secretary said government was targeting increased regional and international connectivity through airport infrastructure upgrading and expansion to attract more airlines and increase volume of traffic.

An efficient aviation infrastructure is critical for the growth of the tourism sector which is a key income earner for the country.