FOSSIL Contractors handed over a rehabilitated Lorraine Drive Road on Monday, opening it up for public use after correcting its shoddy work.
The renowned construction company faced severe criticism for substandard road construction work three years ago, prompting the government to order the project to be redone at its own cost due to poor workmanship and failure to follow proper construction procedures.
Masimba Construction Engineer Kudakwashe Maguta said the company had upgraded the 3,2km long road with highway standards.
“The road we are handing over today has an asphalt thickness of 50mm and has been upgraded to highway standards, enabling it to carry 30-tonne haulage trucks and abnormal trucks. I can safely say the standard of this road is now equivalent to the Harare-Beitbridge road, so trucks are allowed to use Lorraine Drive,” he said.
Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Felix Mhona, commended Fossil Contracting for correcting their past poor workmanship.
“Finally, Lorraine Drive has been opened to traffic. It was one of the detour roads that were used during the SADC meetings. Heavy traffic was directed onto this particular stretch, which could not accommodate the volume, and it eventually collapsed. This gave citizens reasonable grounds to question how the road had been constructed.
“We assured the citizens that the contractor would redo the work, and today we are witnessing this wonderful piece of work. To answer the people of Zimbabwe, the 2nd Republic, championed by His Excellency President Mnangagwa, takes seriously issues related to quality, and if you don’t do quiet precisely, we mandate you to redo not only this project but a number of projects,” he said.-newzim
