Karanda Bridge intact – witnesses

Mt Darwin (New Ziana) – The newly built Karanda bridge in Mt Darwin, which was used last year by government to launch its Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP), is intact contrary to social media reports on Tuesday that it had collapsed.

The bridge, which connects Bindura to Mt Darwin and vice versa, was built by government following pleas from the local community.

The then existing bridge was always impassable during the rain season as it easily flooded.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially launched the re-built bridge last year, and used the occasion to lauch the ERRP 2 programme, which has seen thousands of roads countrywide rehabilitated.

The opposition at the time criticised President Mnangagwa’s attendance of the bridge’s opening, saying it was a low-key event, and alleging funds had been siphoned.

Criticism of the government ‘s involvement in the bridge’s re-construction resurfaced on Tuesday, with faked social media reports, backed up by equally fake pictures, showing it had collapsed less than a year after its rehabilitation.
This prompted local government officials in Mashonaland Central Province to visit the bridge on Tuesday to dispel the reports.

Local people expressed bewilderment at the reports, and dismissed them as false.

New Ziana