Employ from communities: Minister

MASHONALAND West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Marian Chombo has asked five contractors upgrading the Harare-Chirundu Highway to employ locals in the spirit of devolution and empowering previously marginalised communities.

“Employ people from communities that you will be working in along the Harare-Chirundu Highway. Communities situated along the highway should benefit and this will minimise conflicts within communities” said Chombo.

She said contractors would use a list of locals seeking jobs that would be submitted to her office by traditional leaders in the areas contractors will be working.

“Chiefs, headmen and sabhukus (village heads) will submit lists of people to my office and I will forward them to the contractors,” said Chombo, imploring contractors to employ mainly youths and women.

Government awarded tenders to Bitumen World, Fossil, Exodus, Masimba and Tensor to rehabilitate the Harare-Chirundu Highway.

In 2021, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the country’s road network a state of national disaster and announced a ZW$400 million war chest to rehabilitate them.

The government later embarked on an Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme which was supposed to run for three years ending in February this year.

However, the country’s roads remain in a sorry state littered with potholes amid reports of poor workmanship and corruption on the part of contracted companies, leading to government threatening some contractors over poor quality of work.

However, the government has not taken any action.