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Zimbabwe has allowed road network to deteriorate - senator
17 Jun 2016 at 07:04hrs | Views
Matabaleland South MDC-T senator Bheki Sibanda has said the government of Zimbabwe which took from Rhodesia a good road network has allowed it to deteriorate to a point where it becomes a trap to the vehicles and causes their damage.
Speaking in parliament Sibanda said on the issue of road network, the country used to have the second best road network in Southern Africa.
"We have allowed it to deteriorate. It will take us time to rehabilitate those roads. One day I had an unfortunate assignment to go to Sanyati. It took me two hours and Sen. Komichi knows it. It took me two hours to do a 60 kilometre journey and another two hours back. When I got to Harare, I sold that vehicle because when I went for a quotation, it was $4 000.00. To make things worse, I had persuaded my wife to give me her vehicle. That is how bad our roads can be," he said.
"We have a document called the MIDP which we produced with the motor industry and handed it over to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Unfortunately, we chose to ignore the MIDP because it was designed for our local industry and to serve Willowvale from erratic operations and limit the number of grey imports. The problems that we are creating are monumental. The shortage of spares in that industry is unbelievable, but the point that he makes is valid."
Sibanda said when a young man walks up to him and says mdala, ngitholi licence or ndawana licence, his first and straight question is how much did you pay for it?
"The answer comes back straight that I paid $300.00. That means we have no drivers on our roads. We have products and I am sorry to refer to this as products of corruption. I will not extend that. The other threat that we have due to the type of road network that we have is the transfer of business through Zimbabwe to Kazungula," he said.
"It is a reality, it is going to happen, it is in the process of happening and unless we do something about our road network, we will lose a huge chunk of our transit fees. Unfortunately, at the moment our capacity is very low. I do not know how it will take us to modernise, but I agree in total that we need to take steps to modernise our infrastructure. With those words, I lend my support to his motion and congratulate him for bringing up the subject."
Speaking in parliament Sibanda said on the issue of road network, the country used to have the second best road network in Southern Africa.
"We have allowed it to deteriorate. It will take us time to rehabilitate those roads. One day I had an unfortunate assignment to go to Sanyati. It took me two hours and Sen. Komichi knows it. It took me two hours to do a 60 kilometre journey and another two hours back. When I got to Harare, I sold that vehicle because when I went for a quotation, it was $4 000.00. To make things worse, I had persuaded my wife to give me her vehicle. That is how bad our roads can be," he said.
Sibanda said when a young man walks up to him and says mdala, ngitholi licence or ndawana licence, his first and straight question is how much did you pay for it?
"The answer comes back straight that I paid $300.00. That means we have no drivers on our roads. We have products and I am sorry to refer to this as products of corruption. I will not extend that. The other threat that we have due to the type of road network that we have is the transfer of business through Zimbabwe to Kazungula," he said.
"It is a reality, it is going to happen, it is in the process of happening and unless we do something about our road network, we will lose a huge chunk of our transit fees. Unfortunately, at the moment our capacity is very low. I do not know how it will take us to modernise, but I agree in total that we need to take steps to modernise our infrastructure. With those words, I lend my support to his motion and congratulate him for bringing up the subject."
Source - Byo24News
