THE Government has reaffirmed its commitment to reserving more multi-million-dollar projects exclusively for domestic contractors, as it expressed satisfaction with the work being carried out by local engineers on road works, among other infrastructure developments.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joshua Sacco, revealed this at the Zimbabwe Institute of Engineers (ZIE) Infrastructure Investment Conference in Victoria Falls on Thursday.
The conference, running under the theme: “Infrastructure Innovation: Harnessing New Technologies for Improved Service Delivery,” has gathered engineering professionals to deliberate on transformative solutions for the nation’s infrastructure landscape.
Deputy Minister Sacco lauded the zeal and dedication of local engineers, describing their efforts as central to the national development agenda encapsulated by President Mnangagwa’s mantra — Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo.
“Having visited several ERRP2 projects and various other transport infrastructure projects around the country, we have been dazzled and mesmerised by heavy machinery, excited teams of engineers on sites with their hard hats and reflector vests on, with only one goal of getting the work done,” said Deputy Minister Sacco.
He said the Government’s position is to shield these critical projects from foreign competition to bolster local capacity.
“The Government has vowed not to open the programme to any foreign contractors and is sticking to its guns. This is aimed at ensuring maximum benefit to local engineers and contractors as the Government strives to enhance local capacity and contribution to the realisation of the goals of Vision 2030,” said the Deputy Minister.
The ERRP, launched in March 2021 following a Presidential declaration of a state of disaster on the country’s roads, was conceived with the conviction that it could be executed using local resources.
Consequently, the Government restricted all tenders under the programme to domestic companies.
“As such, the Government made sure that all works under the programme were limited to domestic tenders, where various local engineers and contractors were free to participate in the development of the country’s infrastructure,” he said.
“Indeed, you heeded the call and we have seen you participating in tenders and executing the work.”
Deputy Minister Sacco further highlighted that the ERRP2 business is so vast that there are more projects than there are currently contractors and engineers to implement them.
However, he clarified that project awards are strictly based on a competitive and merit-based procurement process.
“One has to be eligible for the value of works on offer and should present a competitive bid among a host of other bids. In short, there are vast opportunities under ERRP2, but your chances at those opportunities are based on merit,” he added.
While celebrating the success of local participation, Dep Min Sacco reminded the engineers of the Government’s value for money principle, which mandates that all projects must be delivered cost-effectively for the benefit of the citizenry.
Beyond the ERRP2, Deputy Minister Sacco outlined a plethora of other opportunities available for local engineers within the broader transport sector.
These include projects under the Road Development Programme (RDP) and the upgrading of border posts, airports, inland waters control systems, roads, interchanges and rail infrastructure.
He challenged engineers to remain innovative and proactive, aligning their work with the nation’s socio-economic blueprints, the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) and the upcoming NDS2. The conference theme, he noted, dovetails perfectly with the national aspiration to leverage technology for superior service delivery.
“The need for technologically driven engineering innovations in establishing sustainable infrastructure has never been more pressing than now, as we face the dual challenges of climate change and economic development,” he said.
Deputy Minister Sacco encouraged the engineers to remain objective, creative, and focused, seizing every opportunity to learn and grow while upholding their professional ethics.
The Government’s strong vote of confidence in local engineers signals a continued partnership aimed at building a resilient and modern infrastructure network, firmly placing the nation on the trajectory towards achieving an empowered and prosperous upper-middle-income society by 2030.-herald
