Govt puts contractors on notice for shoddy work

The government has threatened to blacklist some road contractors amid concerns over shoddy road construction works.

There has been an outcry over poor workmanship by some of the contractors with the roads they worked on developing cracks and potholes just weeks after completion particularly Lorraine Drive in Harare.

Of major concern is that the companies contracted to work on the roads are taking too long to complete the projects.

Addressing Parliament during a question and answer session recently, Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Felix Mhona acknowledged concerns raised over the poor road construction work.

“For the past weeks Lorraine Drive has been topical. The contractors failed dismally and as government we have summoned the contractors who also admitted that they did a shoddy job.

“We do not pay when work is not done properly and we have instructed the contractor to take corrective measures, where they failed.

“It is not the only road that the contractors have to work on across the country. The public is there to take us into account, how the road collapsed we have interrogated.”

Mhona assured lawmakers of government’s commitment to monitoring all road construction projects across the country.

The government rolled out the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) in 2021 after President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the country’s roads a national disaster.

Under ERRP, the government is targeting to rehabilitate 10 000km of roads countrywide, mainly urban and trunk roads.-newsday