Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing are set to construct eight roads and bridges in Caledonia. The project is spearheaded by the Caledonia Management Committee.
During an interview yesterday, Mr Percy Toriro, Caledonia Management Committee chairperson said that preparations were ongoing and some of the material for bridge construction was already on site.
“We want to construct eight bridges and try to link up the 20 phases of Caledonia,” Mr Toriro said.
The 4.2km road that is set to be complete by August will link Caledonia with Tafara, Damafalls and Ruwa.
He added that the bids will be dealt with by the committee next month and at least four bridges were likely to be constructed in the next two months.
With the project being self financed, he urged Caledonia residents to pay their monthly contribution since the process relied on their level of contribution.
Mr Toriro said they are looking forward to have at least four bridges up by the end of March and complete all the eight bridges by early June.
The project has however registered a few challenges such as unscrupulous people who illegally sell government land. Mr Toriro said they are working with the police to ensure that the people involved are prosecuted. This would in turn guarantee Caledonia residents security of tenure.
“We are now in a position to kick off the work after almost a year of preparations. We will ensure proper management of Caledonia,” Mr Toriro said.
Besides construction of bridges and roads, the Zimbabwe government drilled 22 boreholes in a bid to provide clean water for the residents.
The government is subsequently surveying 20 000 stands and after that it will move people who are located on wrong sites.
Caledonia was formerly an illegal settlement where land barons sold out land to desperate home-seekers. The government has since came in to regularize the settlement and integrated it into Harare municipality.
