by Staff Reporter
The Finance and Economic Development Ministry has paid ZWL2.967 billion to all the five contractors for the ongoing upgrade of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge road, which has seen 158 kilometres now open for traffic.
The Ministry has also budgeted ZWL33.6 billion for the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2 (ERRP 2).
According to a contact within the Ministry, the Finance Ministry has also disbursed ZWL1.165 billion for Cyclone Idai restoration works since January 2021.
ERRP2 was officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in Mt Darwin Mashonaland Central Province on 15 April 2021 and is expected to create more than 20 000 jobs across the country. President Mnangagwa described the launch as a key milestone, as the country forges ahead with modernising the national transport infrastructure, which is a key enabler for economic growth and development.
The ERRP2 idea came after cabinet noted with concern the state of roads dilapidation in the country especially in urban areas, where MDC-Alliance-led local authorities had failed to maintain the roads.
On February 9, 2021, Cabinet declared all the roads in the country to be in a state of disaster and proceeded to empower Departments of Roads to takeover maintenance of other roads in both rural and urban areas. The Cabinet also identified a list of high impact critical roads in urban and rural areas countrywide, which need urgent attention.
According to the contact, the money for the rehabilitation exercise is being mobilised from different sources to enable the Department of Roads to takeover repairs of the identified roads under ERRP2. Contact revealed that Treasury decided to redirect a total of ZWL23.4 billion for ERRP2 from various sources such as National budget, ZINARA, Road Fund and National budget for Devolution.
It was further revealed that the technical team working on ERRP2 agreed on a cash flow plan for Phase 1, which amounted to ZWL 6.717 billion and to date works amounting to ZWL 98 million under Phase 1 and 2 have been approved for implementation with actual execution now under way.
Contact also revealed that the Government mobilised and availed ZWL1.48 billion for the programme with ZINARA also availing additional ZWL730 million, bringing the current total of available resources to ZWL 2.2 billion.
The funds, according to the contact, have been committed towards the advance payments to respective road authorities with the anticipation to provide acquittals by the same, prior to next disbursement. He said the Treasury also paid ZWL150 million for the Cyclone Idai road rehabilitation works and that the current outstanding bill stands at ZWL 1.119 billion.
Although the country is faced with illegal economic sanctions and the current COVID-19 challenges, the new dispensation is fighting hard to ensure that key economic projects are implemented for the development of the country.
