Gvt slams two road contractors for shoddy work

Zim Now Writer

The government has taken a tough stance on contractors who carry out substandard work on roads, with Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona announcing that Fossil Contracting will not receive payment for their work on Lorraine Drive until they redo the job to the required standards.

This comes after the contractor was ordered to redo the resurfacing of Lorraine Drive, which links Westgate Shopping Mall to Harare Drive, due to substandard work that saw the road curving in on many sections.

Another contractor, Asphalt Products, has also been ordered to redo part of a 1.5km stretch along Harare Drive, which they recently resurfaced.

“We have recently rehabilitated Harare Drive, which I can give as an example of a job which wasn’t done properly. We are saying we don’t pay for shoddy work and this must be known to the people of Zimbabwe. Whatever we take from the fiscus must be accounted for,” Mhona said.

“We are also saying we want to empower our own people but we won’t pay for work which has not been done properly.”

Mhona made the announcement on Tuesday while leading a delegation to open a 1.8km stretch along Nemakonde Way (formerly Lomagundi Road), from Harare Drive up to Westgate Traffic circle in the capital. He stated that the government will not pay for shoddy work and that contractors must meet the required standards before receiving payment.

Mhona said close monitoring and supervision will be implemented to ensure that engineers presiding over poor jobs are made to account for their actions.

The government has also announced plans to focus on key roads such as the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, which is in a poor state. Mhona said that the adjudication process for contractors interested in working on the 760km long road is underway.

Asphalt Products managing director, Engineer Francis Mangwendeza assured the Government that they were attending to the stretches of roads that they had not done properly, while Fossil Contracting company head of operations, Engineer Kudakwashe Maguta said that they were working on completing the remaining 8.6km of the 12.6km portion from the Main Post Office to the Westgate roundabout.