INTERTOLL, a subsidiary of the Group Five International, was awarded the tender to rehabilitate the 828km road in 2012 after the Development Bank of Southern Africa agreed to finance the project, which included the road’s rehabilitation, widening shoulder ceilings and resurfacing. It was completed last year in December, but already members of the public are experiencing defects that they say could endanger their safety.
“The road contractor did not do a thorough job especially between the wetland stretches along Shangani and Gweru. In these areas, the depressions have not disappeared although the road is now wide,” said Patrick Dube, a driver with a local haulage company.
A South African-based motorist, Crispen Songe, said Group Five, which is renowned for executing quality and durable road projects in the neighbouring country, did a shoddy job on this highway.
“You cannot compare this road with major Highways in South Africa which these guys have done. If you drive along the Plumtree/Mutare you can feel that the road is not solid. It seems they did not use cement or steel forces as they do in South African roads,” said Songe.
Jimmy Sanders, a road construction expert, declined to comment specifically on the status of the highway, but bemoaned what he described as uncontrolled shoddy work in the road sector.
“The quality of some of our road construction companies these days fall way below the mark. Roads and highways constructed in the 70s and 80s are still solid because construction firms were billed to meet certain requirements before there were issued with licences and awarded with contracts,” he said.
He said the government should set up an independent committee to effectively monitor and supervise highway construction. Questions send to INTERTOLL Managing Director Themba Mosai via e-mail had not been responded to at the time of going to press.
Post published in: News