The government of Zimbabwe has set aside US $8.3m for roads rehabilitation across the country under a strategic outsourcing arrangement with contractors to shield government from high leasing costs.
According to Transport minister Joe Biggie Matiza, the government has already set aside the funds but they still wants to make sure that there will be more injections in terms of revenue coming in from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA).
“We want to thank Zinara especially the income generating department, which is now working properly and by the time we plug more leakages in Zinara then we will be able come up with more injections,” he said while acknowledging Zinara’s efforts in combating corruption. The administration recently fired 30 toll-gate cashiers for alleged involvement in corruption among other accusations.
“We also want to thank Zinara for the effort they are putting in raising money and we want to make the issue of road rehabilitation a success. We have started well this year and we are happy with the progress so far,” he added.
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Workmanship
With regards to workmanship in the rehabilitation works, Matiza said he was satisfied by the contractors’ capacity to meet targets, which he said was a cost-effective way for the government to manage rehabilitation costs. “I wanted to see if our bridges have been properly build and l am happy they are strong. There are big companies working in Chimanimani, hence we want to build world class roads,” he said.
He further added that, as a ministry they are targeting to bring more contractors in the road rehabilitation endeavors because they realized that it is expensive to lease or hire equipment “We are going to flight tenders all over the country, that is the empowerment our President is always talking about, we want everyone to benefit and the money will trickle to villages up there,” he affirmed.
