$19m road construction project resumed
THE Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development has resumed the $19 million road construction project which links Mberengwa and West Nicholson and another road linking Mberengwa and Mataga after sourcing additional equipment.
The Mberengwa-West Nicholson road, which will have tarmac, will become the shortest route linking Gweru and Beitbridge. There are about 98 km from Mberengwa to West Nicholson which is about 50km from Gwanda towards Beitbridge.
If completed, haulage trucks and buses going to Zambia are likely to use the route as it reduces distance by close to 100 km.
Mberengwa-Mataga road will also have tarmac. The equipment has already been moved to the sites and construction is set to resume soon.
Mberengwa North Member of Parliament Cde Tafanana Zhou said Government ZIMCOKE (Pvt) Limited, a company which took over a coke making plant at Ziscosteel, is set to invest about $75 million into Hwange Colliery’s coke division.
ZimCoke is in the last stages of taking over a coking plant at the former steelmaking giant, Ziscosteel, with renovations set to kick-start at the coking plant.
ZimCoke took over a coke oven battery plant segment within Ziscosteel in a $133 million deal. At full capacity, the project is expected to produce 500 000 tonnes of coke annually, for both local usage and the export markets. The company also undertook to take over a $225 million debt owed by Ziscosteel to a German bank, KFW.
In an interview, ZimCoke consultant sourced equipment from a Gweru based construction company, Sheasham.
Sheasham, owned by Mr Clever Mandaza, is one of the leading construction companies in the Midlands Province.
“We are happy that construction of the roads in Mberengwa will soon resume. The contractor is already on the ground and we are informed that Government sourced new equipment for the project,” said Cde Zhou.
He had made representations to Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Engineer Joel Biggie Matiza for Government to resume the project.
He once grilled the Minister in parliament over the delay in the project. Government responded swiftly by engaging new equipment suppliers.
The Mberengwa-Mnene road reconstruction project was stalled after the contractor allegedly pulled out and removed equipment from the site owing to cash flow challenges.
Minister Matiza recently confirmed that Government was looking for new contractors.
Government last year had intended to put tarmac on 20 km on the road that links West Nicholson and Mberengwa at a cost of about $11 million and 15 km on the one linking Mberengwa and Mataga which was expected to cost $8 million.