Willowvale engineers manufacture road machinery
A GROUP of engineers at Willowvale Vehicle Body Engineering ( WVBE) have reached another milestone as they have embarked on massive production of road machinery among them tipping dump trailer and tractor-drawn water bowsers.
The engineers, also popularly known for assembling buses in the Willowvale industry area, have already released some of the machines into the market with the latest achievements being welcomed by most rural district councils who are in dire need of the equipment for road maintenance.
A visit to the company’s workshop last week revealed that the team is currently manufacturing a six-tonne tractor-drawn tipping dump trailer and 5 000-litre tractor- drawn water bowser for road construction mainly by local rural authorities.
Government has since resolved to declare the country’s roads a state of disaster due to the damage caused by incessant rains received this season. Most of the roads especially in the rural areas are in bad condition with in some cases bridges being washed away by the torrential rains.
WVBE MD Sylvester Matambo described the manufacturing of the road equipment as a jackpot to local authorities as they are affordable and suitable for rural conditions.
“We thought of taking advantage of government’s declaration of a state of disaster on all roads in the country. We are saying to the councils, be it urban or rural, and road authorities in the country buy local and affordable tractor- drawn pump trailers and water bowsers to enhance your road rehabilitation capabilities,” he said.
The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) each year disburses funds for road rehabilitation to all local authorities while some of government’s devolution funds to provinces have been channelled to road works.
Most of the local authorities have been importing road machinery that could be manufactured locally.
“Our plea is for Zinara to consider procuring the equipment directly from local manufacturers like us on behalf of the local authorities. We are more than ready to meet demand for such equipment, and we would like to commend the government of President [Emmerson] Mnangagwa for its infrastructural spending that is now trickling to our locally-owned companies. A tractor-drawn bowser costs around US$5 000 locally while the price can be exorbitant if imported,” added Matambo.
In 2014, Zinara stopped direct disbursements of road maintenance funds to local authorities, alleging that councils were either misappropriating or diverting the funds.
Local authorities are also hiring equipment at exorbitant prices.
The Transport and Infrastructure Development ministry has “gone local” through contracting home-based companies to work on the country’s roads, a move that can also benefit local road equipment manufacturers.
WVBE engineers also manufacture skip bins for garbage collection.