Council struggles to repair traffic lights

THE Harare City Council has not been repairing faulty traffic lights on most roads on time causing a nightmare for motorists at intersections. Traffic jams are now the order of the day at intersections especially during peak hours. Some of the traffic lights have gone for months with being repaired, prompting the Zimbabwe Republic Police at times to control traffic.

Harare City Council's head of electrical and mechanical services Engineer Calvin Chigairo recently said they were in the process of procuring a new controller for some of the traffic lights.

"We are expecting the delivery of the new controller from South Africa and thereafter we programme the traffic lights to start working",

"We have been facing delays in the delivery of the new controller from the supplier due to foreign currency shortages as we are importing the controller from South Africa," said Eng Chigairo.

Among traffic lights that have gone for close to a month without working is the one at Avonlea Shopping Centre one along Lomagundi Road. The intersection of Lomagundi Road and Harare Drive close to Westgate Shopping Centre is another potential accident black spot owing to malfunctioning traffic lights.

Other intersections with non-working robots include Samora Machel Avenue and Glenara Avenue, Mutare and Delpot roads, Enterprise Road and Harare Drive, Milton and Court Road.

Service delivery has taken a nose dive in Harare for years now with council failing to provide basic service to residents. Harare is lagging behind in achieving world class city status, a vision it set several years ago, but is proving elusive with each passing day.

The MDC-T runs Harare City Council.