Govt avails $57.2 million under ERRP2 to Beitbridge town

Source: Govt avails $57.2 million under ERRP2 to Beitbridge town | The Herald

Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau

Government has allocated $57.2 million to Beitbridge municipality as it presses ahead with Phase 2 of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).

A total of $33.6bn has been budgeted for the second phase and the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has already disbursed $2.3bn to various local authorities.

Under ERRP2, the Government is targeting to rehabilitate 10 000km of roads countrywide.

The rehabilitation and modernisation of the country’s road infrastructure so far have seen the opening of more than 160km to traffic on the Harare-Beitbridge road and the refurbishment of the Karoi-Binga road among other roads.

Beitbridge town-clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola said that civil works were already in full swing across the selected roads.

“We have started the rehabilitation and surfacing four key roads in the western suburbs and we expected these to open to traffic by the end of this month,” said Mr Ramakgapola.

“Contractors are busy on the traffic lights to the Dulivhadzimu Bus terminus road, the bus terminus to the Beitbridge District Road, part of Hagelthorn Road and the Shule-Shule Business Centre to the Bus terminus road.”

He said the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, through the Department of Roads was also surfacing and rehabilitating roads in the low-density areas.

Some of the roads that are getting make-up in the low-density include, Acacia, Hill Close and Phala.

In the western suburbs, the ministry is working on the corner ZAOGA to Mbedzi Business Centre and the Mbedzi Business Centre to Total Service Station roads respectively.

The development comes a few weeks after the Government started upgrading the Beitbridge to Harare road starting at the border post entrance.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister, Cde Felix Mhona said recently that the Beitridge to Harare and Chirundu road was being developed to match the current US$300 million Beitbridge border modernisations project.

So far, US$65 million has been spent on the construction of a new freight terminal at Beitridge which opened to commercial traffic on October 6.

The buses and light vehicles terminals which are under construction are expected to open to traffic by the end of next year.

It is also understood that feasibility studies will start soon for the upgrading of the Beitridge to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls road, with the contractor already busy with preliminary works.