Bulawayo roads over patched

Bulawayo Roads in and around town are said to be over patched due to councils efforts in trying to maintain the roads.

This was revealed by Bulawayo United Residents Association Chairman Enos Dube during a press conference organized by Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

Mr. Dube noted that rather than patching the road, some of the roads required a complete removal.

"We appreciate some efforts that are being for the roads, particularly the ones that lead to the city. However more need to be done in the residential areas where we come from because the roads there are just horrible.    

When you are driving in some roads that cars are constantly hitting on the Bumps and we realize that some of the roads are over-patched.  We have over-patched our roads and sometimes we have to do a total overhaul of our roads," he said.

Standing in on behalf of the Mayor Councilor Silus Chigora noted that the council was not getting enough revenue from Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara).

"We would want to improve road maintenance however we still have a challenge in that aspect and the central government is suppose to assist us through Zinara .

Zinara is getting money from motorists and is suppose to give us that money so that we maintain the roads."

Councilor Chigora noted that the fact that council was not receiving money directly from motorists was a challenge as they did not get enough money.  

When you pay for your licenses you are paying somewhere but when you are driving , you drive in the roads of the city of Bulawayo  and it is mandatory for the city to maintain those city roads. . That is the gap that we find ourselves in and we hope the government is going to address that .

We used to collect US $370 000 per quarter from the vehicles that were there in 2010. l am sure you would agree that the number  of vehicles has increased  from 2010 up to now , yet we are not receiving the revenue directly from the motorists.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) Secretary, Anglistone Sibanda, defended city council noting that the centralization of council's decisions in Harare was hindering progress in the city.

"All the money that has to do with roads is collected by Zinara , and Zinara is taking the money to Harare and when its goes to Harare  it does not address our issues here.

Although city council has been conducting road maintenance most motorist are still complaining that they are either taking a lot of time and that the works are not satisfactory.