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Mujuru to officiate at Vic Falls Airport rehab ceremony

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VICE-PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru is on Friday expected to officiate at the ground-breaking ceremony for the $150 million rehabilitation and expansion project

VICE-PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru is on Friday expected to officiate at the ground-breaking ceremony for the $150 million rehabilitation and expansion project of the Victoria Falls International Airport as preparations for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly gathers momentum in the resort town.

Report by Staff Reporter

The project is spearheaded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) after government signed an agreement with a Chinese contractor on April 5 last year. CAAZ, in a statement, said: “The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe will be hosting the ground-breaking ceremony of the Victoria Falls International Airport refurbishment project. The ceremony will be held on Friday 12th of April at Victoria Falls International Airport. Her Excellency, the Honourable Vice-President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde Joice Mujuru, will grace the occasion.”

The Chinese contractor has already moved state-of-the-art earth-moving equipment to the site.

The new equipment includes 34 tipper trucks, two cranes (37 and 40 tonnes respectively), two low-bed trucks, three graders and seven compactors among other essential equipment for the project.

Parliament in August last year ratified a $150 million loan agreement between Zimbabwe and the Export-Import Bank of China for the upgrading and rehabilitation of the airport ahead of the UNWTO General Assembly.

The project entails the construction of a four-kilometre runway, a control tower, new terminal building and inside road network, car parks as well as the rehabilitation of the present runway.

Land has already been cleared for the new runway and the new terminal building.

Four boreholes have also been drilled to augment water supplies for the project.

While the project is not expected to be complete before the UNWTO General Assembly scheduled for August 24 to 29, it is projected to leave a legacy for the resort town and its tourism sector.