Zinara to explore new revenue sources

THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) is exploring new ways of raising funds to complement traditional revenue sources for road programmes.

The authority said the revenue it collects through routine vehicle licensing and toll gate fees constituted about 10 percent of the requirements for road rehabilitation and maintenance.

Between March and December 2021, Zinara disbursed $9,5 billion for phases 1 and 2 of the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Program (ERRP) across the country.

This fell short of the set a target of $17 billion for 2022 needed to cover all provinces and major cities in the country.

About $6,3 billion would go to the Department of Roads in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development and $4,5 billion for the District Development Fund.

Presenting key milestones and funding strategies for road maintenance, Zinara chief executive Nkosinathi Ncube said they had secured permission to raise finances away from their traditional revenue streams.

"The Government has asked us to come up with new ways of raising money, as we are right now dependent mainly on what we collect. So, going forward the Government will most probably authorise Zinara and the Treasury to be able to get funding from third parties, which are private players.

" . . . we are currently working with the Ministry of Finance (and Economic Development), Ministry of Transport (and Infrastructural Development), and other Government agencies to see what other sources of funding can be looked at so that we up the pace and be able to do the roads better," said Mr Ncube.

He acknowledged the dilapidated state of the roads across the country and promised Zinara would devise measures to facilitate maintenance of the national road network.

Zinara intends to disburse more funds to major urban authorities including Harare $1,1 billion, Bulawayo City Council $338 million, Gweru City Council $196,2 million, Mutare City Council $163,5 million and Masvingo City Council $122 million.

The eight other provinces will see Mashonaland East getting $519,6 million, Mashonaland Central $451,5 million, Manicaland $444 million, Mashonaland West $741 million, Masvingo Province $361 million, Midlands $661 million, Matabeleland North $524 million and Matabeleland South $495 million.

Zinara is mandated to mobilise the financing of the emergency road rehabilitation works after the national road system was declared a state of national disaster to urgently restore the national road infrastructure following the heavy rains that the country received during the 2020-21 rainy season.