6km of the Melfort-Bromley stretch opens

MARONDERA- As Government continues to dualise the Harare-Mutare highway,
46km of the road have now been opened to the trafficking public.
Part of the 6km dual carriageway between Melfort and Bromley, was last week
opened by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Felix Mhona at
an event which was attended by the Minister of State for Mashonaland East
Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Aplonia Munzverengwi and senior Government
officials.
The opening of the road comes at a time the Second Republic is improving the
country’s roads.
The Second Republic has a new mandate to lead the country’s development
following Zanu PF and President Mnangagwa’s victory in the August 23/24
harmonised elections and will be guided by the National Development Strategy-1
(NDS-1) and Vision 2030 to make Zimbabwe an empowered upper-middle income
society.
Dualisation of the Harare-Mutare highway, which is a gateway to Manicaland’s
provincial capital and the neighbouring Mozambique markets, started more than 10
years ago and little progress in as far as dualising it was made.
Real progress only started after President Emmerson Mnangagwa came into office
and embarked on several massive infrastructure development programmes targeting
roads, airports, border posts, schools, clinics and hospital and energy infrastructure,
among others.
True to the ‘Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo’ mantra, Fossil Contracting (Private)
Limited which is a local company is working on dualisation of the road works along
the Harare-Mutare highway.
After officially opening the 6km stretch Minister Mhona said all economic
development programmes are dependent on a sound road network hence his
ministry will to ensure that roads in all parts of the country are trafficable.
“At today’s event, we opened 6kms of the dualised highway to both public motorists
as well as other travelers who use the road. This takes us to a total of 46kms of the
road that has been opened to date. Our plan is to continue working on the road up to
Marondera, then Macheke, Headlands, Rusape and eventually Mutare.
“On top of that, we will work on the Christmas Pass stretch in Mutare where we will
construct a 26km by-pass for the benefit of motorists especially haulage trucks. At
the moment, the road which they are using directly via the Christmas has not been
favourable especially under certain conditions of the weather and some accidents

have been taking place resulting in loss of goods and lives. The Christmas Pass by-
pass road will put a stop to that,” he said.
Minister Mhona said that plans were at an advanced stage to transform the Forbes
Border Post in Manicaland province, with partners already working on the ground.
He added that Government is also upgrading Chirundu Border Post to transform it
into a world-class facility just like what was done to the Beitbridge Border Post.
In Mashonaland East, both the Harare-Nyamapanda and the Nyamapanda Border
Post will soon be upgraded.
“We will upgrade the roads and make the necessary upliftment of other infrastructure
like bridges and border posts in line with country’s set goal of making Zimbabwe an
empowered upper-middle income society by 2030.
The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Aplonia Munzverengwi
hailed President Mnangagwa for his efforts in making sure that roads in the province
are attended to.
She spoke highly of the Ministry of Transport and the contractor Fossil Contracting
(Private) Limited for the good job that is being done.
“The opening of this 6km road of stretch today is a sign that a lot is being done to
build our economy and the nation at large. Road infrastructure is key in our day to
day lives because it makes it easy to transport goods and service from Point A to
Point. The same goes for the movement of people to get services. They need
trafficable roads like this one. It is my sincere hope that the Melfort bridge will be
worked on soon because the area has become one of the black spots along this
highway.
“Our province hosts major roads that lead to our neighbouring countries, South
Africa and Mozambique – that is the Harare-Beitbridge, Harare-Mutare as well as
Harare-Nyamapanda highways. These roads should be in good state and we
applaud President Mnangagwa for making sure that these roads are worked on for
the convenience of the transporting public,” Minister Munzverengwi said.
When he addressed the first Cabinet meeting last week following his recent election
victory to lead Zimbabwe for a second successive term, President Mnangagwa
tasked Ministers to expedite the implementation of ongoing as well as new policies,
projects and programmes for the benefit of the people.
He said the ongoing Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) will be
scaled up ahead of the rainfall season.