BCC gets $5 million for road rehabilitation

THE Bulawayo City Council has received $5 million to be used in the rehabilitation of the city's dilapidated road network.

A total of $2 million has been given to the council as a loan from the Government through the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) while $3 million is from the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) road fund.

According to the latest council report, the local authority has started accessing the funds, which are expected to improve the city's roads.

"Council received a $2 million loan for roads rehabilitation from the Government. The amount has been released and is being administered through IDBZ. A total of $835 015.29 has been spent on payments to contractors, hire of plant, purchase of material, plant consumables and fuel. The programme covers reconstruction, reseals, slurry seals, premix overlays, refurbishment of traffic lights, road line marking and supply of modified tar. The loan has a tenure of two years," reads the report.

"Zinara has indicated that a total amount of $3 million has been allocated for both routine and periodic maintenance. The money will be disbursed in batches. The first batch of $750 000 has been deposited into council accounts."

The council's director of engineering services, Engineer Simela Dube, commended the Government for funding the city's road rehabilitation plan and said the local authority would provide labour and equipment.

The Zinara funds are also expected to cover the pothole patching, road line marking and traffic lights rehabilitation.

Among the roads to be rehabilitated are portions of Intemba Road, Nketa 7 Main Road, Nketa Drive, Luveve Road, Pumula South Main Road, Sections of Old Esigodini Road, Njube Main Road, Nkulumane Drive, Khami Road, Cecil Avenue, Jukwa Road, Amnyama Road and Old Falls Road.

The release of the road funds comes amid growing concern by residents and motorists over the poor state of the city's roads.

Potholes are a common feature in the city's roads and motorists have expressed concern that their vehicles were being damaged despite the fact that they were paying the road fund.

The dilapidated state of roads in the city and on the country's major roads has also been blamed for the spate of fatal accidents.

Recently the officer-in-charge of Khami Prison Complex, Assistant Commissioner Elmon Siziba, appealed to the city council to rehabilitate the 12km Bulawayo-Khami Prison Road, saying the road was no longer usable because of potholes.

He said the road has not been attended to for the past three years.

The city fathers have also called for the speedy rehabilitation of roads especially in the high-density suburbs.

"Our roads are in a sorry state almost everywhere in the city," said Ward Three Councillor Martin Moyo during a full council meeting on Wednesday.

A majority of the country's roads have reportedly outlived their lifespans by more than 30 years.

The average lifespan of a road is about 20 years.

Zinara is on record saying the country needs about $2 billion to rehabilitate all its roads and upgrade them to international standards.

A number of the roads were built in the 1960s and 70s and are becoming increasingly more expensive to maintain.

The deterioration of the roads accelerated from 2000 when Western countries imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe resulting in the Government and local authorities failing to raise money to repair and maintain roads.