Zimbabwe govt enlists contractors for roads rehab

Government is enlisting contractors to attend to sections of highways and roads in residential areas that were damaged by heavy rains in the past four months

In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development confirmed that the incessant rains had left a number of roads damaged and others with potholes. The ministry assured motorists that it was committed to addressing these defects to ensure their safety when driving on the roads.

"The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development would like to advise motorists that the incessant rains have left a number of roads with potholes and other surface defects. As a Ministry, we remain committed to redressing these defects to ensure your safety on our roads and increase the number of kilometres of road network in good condition.

"Please note that the Ministry is in the process of procuring contractors to attend to these works. Your patience during this time would be greatly appreciated.

"We would like to promise you that the Ministry of Infrastructural and Development is at your service and any adverse condition you may be facing on our roads is just temporary," said the Ministry.

Under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2) Government is not only focusing on major highways, but also those roads in suburbs of towns and cities that have been abandoned by opposition-run councils over the years, leaving motorists to navigate potholes and increasing the cost of owning and operating vehicles.

Over 2 000km of roads have been re-gravelled, while 6 627,9km have been graded, with 701 drainage structures constructed or repaired and 184 wash-aways reclaimed.

Across the country, 4 491,5km of drains have been opened while 6 141,2km of verges have been cleared.

Progress continues to be made on the patching of potholes, with 4 794,8km of road having been attended to. The move has since been hailed by some motorists in and around the city.

A Harare kombi driver, Mr Innocent Bonga welcomed the move saying this would also guarantee the safety of passengers on the roads.

"If these roads are repaired, the safety of passengers will also be guaranteed. And even the costs of repairing our commuter omnibuses will be reduced," he said.

Mrs Elina Chidzenga of Highfield said she had noted with concern that most of the accidents being recorded were as a result of bad roads.

"Most of the motorists involved in road accidents, where either avoiding potholes or their vehicles would hit a pothole before swerving to the opposite lane resulting in an accident. So this move by the government is a welcome development," she said.

 Mr Knox Mureverwi of Glen View also urged the Government to ensure it speeded up this process saying most of the roads were in a bad state.

"I would like to appeal to the Government to speed up this process of repairing damaged roads as most of the roads that had been neglected by councils are in a very bad state. It is my hope that soon the contractors will start working on all the damaged roads," he said.