A broken down Stallion Cruise bus on the Mberengwa – Dhanga Road
Trymore Tagwirei
The district of Mberengwa will commence a rehabilitation and reconstruction exercise for some of its major roads that were damaged by heavy rains received since the beginning of this year, EnviroPress has heard.
Roads in the district, which links Midlands province to Matebeleland South province in the south and Masvingo province in the east, has had its gravel road network severely damaged by heavy rains.
Mberengwa Rural District Development Coordinator (DDC) Vafios Hlabati told EnviroPress that the district received substantial donations to assist in the road rehabilitation work.
“We had a meeting with the engineers and they promised that the work would begin on Tuesday next week (18 March). We are grateful for the donations that we received from Honorable Tinashe Goga Shumba, the MP for Mberengwa Central, and from Sandawana Mine. All that assistance will be useful in our work to reconstruct and rehabilitate our roads,” said Hlabati.
He said the incessant rains that were received in the district since new year had had a devastating impact on the district’s already dire road network.
He further revealed that MP Shumba donated 15 000 litres of fuel and 600 bags of cement towards the road rehabilitation programme.
On its part, the lithium-producing Sandawana Mine, which is owned by Kuvimba Mining House, donated a further 15 000 litres of fuel to support the work.
“We have plans to rehabilitate Jeka Bridge, Phoenix Dam and some roads in the C-Mine area. All the machines are now in place and if the weather allows us, we will start operations next week,” he said.
EnviroPress was informed that priority roads for rehabilition were Mberengwa – Nicholson, Mberengwa – Mataga, Mberengwa – Ngungubane, and Mberengwa – Sandawana Mine.
When contacted for comment, Mberengwa Rural District Council Chairperson Cllr Garisikayi Moyo said the donations would enable the local authority to rehabilitate more kilometres of road networks than in the previous years.
“As council, we are glad that we will be able to do more this year due to the donations from Sandawana Mine and our MP. The donations will be invested in the rehabilitation of roads in Mberengwa Central, and our own budget will benefit other constituencies,” said Moyo.
