Local contractors have consistently demonstrated their expertise and capability in delivering excellent roads and infrastructural development projects.
With their modern equipment and skilled workforce, local contractors are well-equipped to handle high-quality projects.
As the SADC Summit approaches next month, impressive work being carried out by local companies will undoubtedly showcase Zimbabwe's potential to the regional community, facilitating economic growth, cooperation, and collaboration among member states.
Besides creating employment for thousands of people countrywide, the contractors have shown that they can deliver quality works as expected by the Government. A total of 41 tenders worth millions of United States dollars were recently awarded to local public and private contractors for the construction, rehabilitation and routine maintenance of several roads countrywide under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2).
President Mnangagwa launched the US$400 million ERRP2, a countrywide initiative meant to improve the country's road network and catch up on years of neglect by urban authorities.
More than 50 000km have been rehabilitated and reconstructed, while 2 000 structures have been attended to since the start of ERRP2 in 2021 under a sustained road and infrastructure development drive by the Second Republic.
Zimbabwe has an estimated road network of 84 000km, out of which 93 percent of the network was in fair or poor condition and in need of rehabilitation or at least catching up on periodic maintenance. More damage to roads was done by subsequent rains and the Government has been working to rehabilitate the infrastructure.
Ongoing road projects include pothole patching, grading, re-gravelling, spot dumping, wash away repairs, culverts construction, reseals and rehabilitation. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development recently gazetted its tender awards.
Contractors were awarded tenders for road construction, reconstruction and concrete works, rehabilitation, routine maintenance, supply and delivery of protective clothing, spot re-gravelling on selected sections and grading, provision of security services, road markings and supply and delivery of surveying equipment
President Mnangagwa has always emphasised the need to grow the economy and the need to have local companies implementing capital intensive projects. All the companies working on national roads construction are locally-owned and have proved to be capable of delivering quality work.
Employing local companies has a huge benefit to the economy in that while there is improvement of infrastructure, there is also promotion of local participation in economic activities and the positive results have not gone unnoticed.
Road construction falls under the infrastructure cluster and roads are regarded as key economic enablers in line with the attainment of Vision 2030 of an upper middle income society.
In January last year, Government bought state-of-the-art equipment under ERRP through the CMED.
They included two road reclaimers, two D8 Bulldozers, four 20 000-litre water bowsers, two 20-tonne recovery trucks, three excavators, four graders, one double drum roller, three Padfoot Rollers, three pneumatic rollers, two chip spreaders, one front end loader, four 10-tonne lorries and one tractor horse.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona recently said negotiations between the Government and a potential investor for the rehabilitation of the Harare-Nyamapanda Highway and the Nyamapanda Border Post were underway.
The 235,8km Harare-Nyamapanda highway, which links Zimbabwe with Mozambique and Malawi, has been affected by an increase in traffic, especially haulage trucks carrying black granite from Murehwa and Mutoko.
Government has prioritised rehabilitation of major highways that include the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, where the rebuilding is almost complete, and now the Harare-Chirundu highway, the northern leg of the same main north-south highway. The Harare-Mutare dualisation is also in progress, with a 46km stretch from Harare going towards Marondera already completed and opened to traffic.
Many other key highways are being rehabilitated, including the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, as good roads are critical for the movement of goods.
Infrastructure development is at the heart of the Second Republic, which is in line with the aspiration of attaining an empowered upper middle income society.
Recently, Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga said Government was happy with progress made so far on the construction of key infrastructure by local companies and was ready to host the forthcoming SADC Summit scheduled for Harare next month.
He said this while leading a delegation of senior Government officials on a tour to assess projects being undertaken ahead of the SADC Summit, which is scheduled to run from August 17 to 18 when President Mnangagwa will assume the chairmanship of the regional bloc.
VP Chiwenga said he was happy with the quality of work being done.
"The quality of work is quite perfect and what has been done is extremely good and more importantly, these are Zimbabwean companies who are doing all the works that we have seen, maybe except one or two areas at the airport".
Early this month, the local firms and contractors were also applauded for the rapid development of infrastructure that would catapult the country towards attainment of Vision 2030.
Minister Mhona said road construction and infrastructure development were testimony to the Second Republic's workmanship.
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"I am happy with the progress being made. This shows that through our local firms and contractors, we are on the right track towards achieving the envisaged upper-middle-income economy by the year 2030," he said.
The ministry is rehabilitating most of the major highways to facilitate smooth movement of traffic.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development, Cde Knowledge Kaitano, also commended the ministry and local firms for the construction works.
The local contractors assured Government that they will continue delivering quality work on all roads and infrastructural projects assigned to them.
Government is also constructing a modern referral hospital at Manyame Air Base that will cater for the security services and the public as well as VVIPs, who will be attending the 44th SADC Summit.
An executive with Skilz Shopfitters and Joiners - one of the contractors - Mr Dominic Jairos, said: "We are very excited with our Government, if you see all these projects that are happening, it's all Zimbabweans.
"We are happy, Zimbabweans are learned people in all sectors, in roads construction, there are no foreigners.
"So we are quite excited, we just need the encouragement and resources to put them together so that as Zimbabweans we develop our country, just as the President says, 'Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo'."
