Govt prioritises Bulawayo-Nkayi Road
THE Government has gone to tender inviting companies to partner in the construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road under a Built, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
The latest development follows a commitment by Government that the project has been declared as one of the top priorities in Matabeleland North Province this year.
In an interview, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo said applications for the tender on the project will close on 6 April.
“It is one of my priority projects in Matabeleland North, the road from Bulawayo to Nkayi which connects with Gokwe, then from Nkayi through Lupane to Hwange. This is my priority area, as well as the Tsholotsho-Bulawayo Road.
“Because of lack of resources, I have put this road on a BOT model, so I have applied for investors to take up that project,” he said.
Dr Gumbo was non-committal on when work on the road was expected to start, but said a number of companies have already expressed interest in the project. He said he can only share more detail after the tender has closed next month.
“My advertisement ends on 6 April, that is the time I can give you more information although for now I have already started receiving requests of expression of interest to do that road. So I get bound legally by waiting for the closure of the application that I have made through the public media, otherwise I already have companies that are interested in taking up that project,” he said.
Dr Gumbo said construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road will also see Ingwingwisi Bridge which had been lying idle for the past 20 years becoming functional. He said connecting the refurbished road to Ingwingwisi Bridge would not only help increase connectivity in the area but will also reduce accidents along the road.
“The bridge has been left unfinished for over 20 years. I have been there before and I have tried to engage some contractors to do that bridge for a long time and they have not been forthcoming. But I am happy to say that now, I have put that bridge on a BOT model and I have got quite a number of investors who are interested in tarring the road from Bulawayo to Nkayi including bringing together the new road to pass through the new bridge that has been left standing on its own without being used.
“The narrow bridge that is there, I am told that it is a death trap as many buses and trucks have fallen over that small bridge,” he said.
Construction of the Bulawayo-Nkayi Road began in 1993 and was supposed to be completed by 1999. Less than 50 kilometres of the nearly 170-kilometre road has been widened and resurfaced.