Chinhoyi in $1,4m road rehab scheme

CHINHOYI Municipality has embarked on a $1,4 million road construction and rehabilitation programme.

The project is being administered by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration and will cover about 14 kilometres.

Work on the project, which is being carried out by Bitumen World started on October 1 and is expected to run up to the first week of December.

In an interview, council spokesperson, Mr Tichaona Mlauzi said the project would cover most roads in both high and low density suburbs.

“The Municipality of Chinhoyi has embarked on road construction and rehabilitation starting from October 1. The project was funded to the tune of $1, 364 367 from the Road Fund administered by Zinara,” he said.

“The project is expected to run for about nine weeks and council will provide equipment including a dozer and tipper trucks in the excavation of gravel, fuelling and guaranteed water supplies.”

This, he said, would be covered by the $1 road levy, charged on each household, introduced last year.

Roads to be covered include Ruvimbo Drive (2,1km), Nemakonde-Cherima (1,5km), Tangwena End (1,45km), Hillview Road (1,04km), Chaedza (0,8km), Exor Road and Hillside Chapel roads (1,1km, Mwanga Street (0,5km) and Mapako (1km).

The project was delayed because of funding and bottlenecks caused by the new procurement regulations that require a licence for tenders above set thresholds.

Under the new regulations, projects that are worth more than $1 million need to be registered with the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) —a successor body to the State Procurement Board — to ensure transparency.

Chinhoyi successfully applied for an additional $600 000 above the $900 000 they had been allocated by Zinara.

As a stop-gap measure council had earmarked funds from the Estates Account to roll out the project.

Residents have expressed happiness with the development as it will improve the outlook of the town.

“Roads had deteriorated significantly and we would like to thank Government through Zinara for ensuring that our roads are trafficable which in turn improves the outlook of the town,” said Mr Tapiwa Chikondowa.