eBusiness Weekly
HARARE – The Zimbabwe government will channel $150 million towards the rehabilitation of sections of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway while awaiting completion of negotiations with Chinese construction company, AFECC for the dualisation of the road, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Acting Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister July Moyo said Cabinet had noted with concern the bad state of the road.
This, he said, necessitated urgent repair works on the road.
“(Cabinet resolved) that the framework agreement between AFECC and the republic of Zimbabwe on the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway dualisation project be signed in order to secure the necessary commitments from AFECC,” he said.
“The $150 million already mobilized by a Zinara bond with Old Mutual be utilized to rehabilitate and upgrade sections of the road using local contractors while waiting for the finalization of the negotiations with AFECC.”
Rehabilitation and dualisation of the road has been on the cards for years now, but the project has failed to take off on several occasions for various reasons.
The latest reason was because the company which had won the tender for the project, Austrian firm Geiger failed to raise funds required for the project prompting government to cancel the tender.
The project was handed over to AFECC which had come second in the previous tender, but initial reports suggested that negotiations between the two parties had stalled. – New Ziana