Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has commissioned the completed Marongora-Hellsgate section of Makuti-Chirundu Road which is part of projects to improve the North-South corridor.
This comes as the Japanese government has also agreed to fund a further 6.5km after completion of the Marongora-Hellsgate section which covers a a similar distance.
President Mnangagwa hailed the Japanese government for extending bilateral aid to the country, especially at a time when the country was under Western sanctions for the past 20 years which had cut funding from lending and development institutions.
“When I met the former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, I requested that they consider extending their gesture of the grant to widen the road to cover 13km. I did not get the answer. I am happy that the Ambassador has communicated the reply which we requested that time,” he said.
“May I, on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, the Government of Zimbabwe and on my behalf, express our deep gratitude and appreciation to the people and Government of Japan for extending a further grant to complete the balance of the 6.5km,” he added.
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Makuti-Chirundu Road project
The President further mentioned that the project was one of the fruits of Government’s engagement and re-engagement programme. “After experiencing the engineering ingenuity of the contractors and also the bad extent of the road from the completed section to Chirundu, I have directed that the remaining 40km to be rehabilitated immediately,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said completion of the project gives impetus to SADC’s Regional Development Master Plan – Vision 2027, which envisions well maintained and operated infrastructure that promotes seamless transport services in the region. “These developments fitted into intra-regional and continental ideals encapsulated in the Africa Agenda 2063 of a more integrated, united and prosperous continent,” he added.
