Mnangagwa's govt warns road contractors against shoddy jobs

TRANSPORT minister, Felix Mhona has warned contractors who are rehabilitating roads across the country against poor workmanship, saying those who compromise quality will be compelled to redo the work.

Following the declaration of Zimbabwe's roads as a state of disaster by President Mnangagwa early this year government has embarked on an Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP).

The ERRP is running for three years thereby ending in February 2024.

In Mutare, a shoddy job along Aerodrome and Magamba road has sparked debates in the public domain that contractors gave lip service to rehabilitation of roads in the border town.

Speaking Wednesday to journalists on the sidelines of a strategic planning workshop in Mutare, Mhona confirmed receiving complaints from disgruntled stakeholders over poor workmanship in road rehabilitation programme.

"I often hear some concerns from other stakeholders that at times quality is being compromised. As we partake the roads rehabilitation programme, we urge contractors who would have tender their bids to ensure that they uphold issues to do with quality. Where we think the service is shoddy in state, we shall request the contractor to redo the project again," Mhona said.

He added that government has so far disbursed six billion dollars for roads rehabilitation out of the $33,6 billion which has been set aside for ERRP.

"As we speak, we have given work to almost 80 contractors across the nation in tandem with the vision of his excellency (President Mnangagwa) to empower our people. At times you realise that other contractors will underbid to get a contract but at the end of the day fail to perform accordingly to the expectations," he said.

Mhona stated that corruption has no room in the second republic hence the need for contract disclosure of all contractors for transparency purposes.

"Let us be transparent as a ministry in whatever projects we are conducting. For instance, if a road has been constructed, let the citizenry know kilometers covered and costs incurred, so that it is in the public domain. We are now saying if there is a project, let contract disclosure be of utmost importance.This will help people with information regarding the contractors, nature of works to be conducted, what are the milestones and deliverables," Mhona said, adding that in 2022 the ministry will embark on a second phase of reconstructing roads dotted around the country.