Gweru roads project stalls

Bitumen World, a company which was contracted by Gweru City Council to resurface the city's heavily damaged road network, has suspended work amid reports the contractor is yet to be paid for the project.

Gweru City Council awarded the contractor a tender running into millions of dollars for the rehabilitation of the city's road network, especially the City-Mkoba and City-Senga roads.

Motorists and public transporters in Gweru were now using detours to get around the areas being rehabilitated by the contractor. Work on the rehabilitation of the roads has stalled, albeit at a critical stage, with Bitumen World reportedly demanding down payment. Sources who spoke to The Herald said the firm suspended operations at a critical stage in a bid to force the council to release funds.

"The contractor started work after agreeing terms with Gweru City Council, which had assured them that they have the funds available after receiving an allocation from Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara). The contractor did all the work, resurfaced the roads and applied the first coat of tar on the roads. They have, however, stopped at this critical stage in a bid to try and force the council to release the funds," said a source.

The source said the council was now changing goal posts.

"Initially, the city council indicated that the money was readily available, but the contractor then questioned why they were yet to deposit even a cent despite the work progress. Council then changed the goalposts, saying Zinara was yet to release the money, and this is what riled the contractor," said another source.

Gweru Mayor Councillor Charles Chikozho confirmed the work stoppage, saying the local authority was engaging Zinara to release the funds.

"You know, this is a huge project we have embarked on and it is being funded by Zinara. The challenge now is that Zinara is yet to release the funds, but we have engaged them and their response is very positive. It's now at a critical stage, everything, the tar and machinery is on the ground, so once the contractor gets the payment, work will resume," he said.

Cllr Chikozho said the city roads were now in a sorry state and the project needed to be completed. Meanwhile, some kombi crews in Gweru are becoming impatient over the delays in the road rehabilitation work and are now removing barricades and driving on the incomplete roads.

Observers said the move would compromise the quality of work by the contractor.