Harare — At least US$480 million is required to dualise the Harare-Beitbridge road, a senior Government official said yesterday.
Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development permanent secretary, Partson Mbiriri said the costs were at US$800 000 per kilometre.
"The route is 600 kilometres and this costs US$480 million for the whole project to be completed," he said.
Mr Mbiriri said Government was still seeking funds for the project, mooted a few years ago.
Dualisation of the road was expected to minimise accidents in the road.
With business activity picking up, Mr Mbiriri expressed fears more accidents could be recorded on the road if it was not urgently upgraded.
"The economic turnaround has increased volumes of cargo freights and this may increase accidents on the road if it is not dualised."
Mr Mbiriri said the route was very important in the development of southern Africa's economy as it links not only Zimbabwe but South Africa with its northern neighbours.
The road links the two countries with DRC, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania and the rest of central and eastern Africa.
Mbiriri said speed on the road was limited due to the narrowness of the road, resulting in delays in transportation of goods and people.
If dualised, speed on the road would improve thereby minimise transportation delays.
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This article is a stunning indictment on Mugabe's regime. In 30 years they failed to reinvest a single dime into infrastructure. Not one single improvement to the road network. They didn't even adequately maintain and repair: water and sewer services, power generation and delivery, hospitals and school buildings... and anything else I may have missed.
Now almost everything has decayed beyond the point of repair and needs to be replaced. The gov'ts estimate of $10billion probably only covers 10% of what's needed. Mugabes legacy will be felt for the next 2 or 3 generations. That's how long it will take to bring Zimbabwe back to where it was after 30 years of criminal neglect.