Government mulls giving rehabilitation and maintenance of trunk roads to private sector

Source: The Chronicle – Breaking news

 Professor Mthuli Ncube

Leonard Ncube in Lupane

GOVERNMENT is considering handing over rehabilitation and maintenance of some of the country’s trunk roads to the private sector through concessions on a Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.

Speaking in Lupane at the inaugural Matabeleland North Diaspora Investment Conference today, Finance and Economic Investment Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is one such road that needs private-public partnerships.

He said in the meantime Government is carrying out maintenance work on the road and has been doing spot pothole patching as well as resurfacing, especially around Hwange town where about 10km of newly surfaced road done by Bitumen World, has been opened to traffic.

Bitumen World has however taken a break from maintenance work and Prof Ncube said work will still continue.

While detailing investment opportunities in Matabeleland North, he said the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway is a ready investment opportunity.

“There is no reason why this road cannot be concessioned out. As provisioned, we are consessioning out trunk roads which are profitable. What will be viable is that the whole road from Beitbridge to Victoria Falls should be in private hands. It’s should be in PPPs. We should concession it out to give investors 25 or 30 year concessions so that they invest in the road further, manage it and do enough tolls to recoup their money and surrender it to Government.  So this is an investment,” said Prof Ncube.

He said roads are viable projects that can be invested into.

“We as Government are making sure the road is being repaired. Of course there are stops here and there but in the longterm it is best for this kind of road to be concessioned out to private investors. It’s an investment opportunity in it’s own right,” he said.

Prof Ncube said the same can be done for Fighting Road connecting Lupane to Kwekwe via Nkayi.

The road is viewed as critical as it can reduce the distance between Victoria Falls and Harare by more than 200km.

” I also think the road from Lupane to Kwekwe is a commercially viable road which can be tolled and members of the Diaspora should look at it. Let’s make proposals to the Minister of Transport and have PPPs,” said Prof Ncube.

Government declared the state of road network a state of emergency following heavy rains in the past two years.

Through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme, the country is rehabilitating the road network to meet world class standards as the nations drives towards an upper middle Income society by 2030.