Bulawayo demands fair share of road funds

Bulawayo residents are calling on the government to revise the funds allocated to the city for road rehabilitation purposes.

The residents noted that the money allocated is too little, considering the amount needed and the state of the roads.

Bulawayo Mayor, David Coltart, recently stated that the local authority needs a minimum of US$15 million per year to maintain its road network, which deteriorates each rainy season when heavy rains pound the ageing infrastructure.

The city receives funds from the government through the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (ZINARA), which collects revenue through vehicle licensing. However, there have been complaints from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) that the amount allocated is too little and there are delays in the disbursements.

The local authority further complained that the funds allocated are in local currency, yet the contractors engaged in road works demand their payments in foreign currency.

Speaking at a mid-year budget performance and review meeting held in Mpopoma, residents suggested that the local authority must be given money proportional to the number of toll gates that feed into the city as well as the number of motorists with vehicles that pay for licenses.

According to the mid-year budget figures, the Ministry of Transport allocated US$150,000, which was used to rehabilitate 0.3 km of Plumtree Road. The city still awaits funds to reconstruct 2 km of Cecil Avenue from the ministry.

"Bulawayo is the second capital city and has four toll gates in total. Comparing the money allocated vis-a-vis the number of toll gates we have and the money collected there, it does not tally. So many cars pass through here on their way to various destinations. Why are we not allocated that money?" a resident inquired.

"Maybe we need to sit down with the Minister of Transport and talk about this. We need to tell them that the money they are allocating to us is very little. The current government has been making lots of trips to our city, and they come in many cars that take up a lot of parking space in town.

"There are also allegations that when these cars come, they do not pay parking fees to TTI. This then affects the takings for the day, denting possible revenue for BCC. Can all these issues be addressed so that we can get adequate revenue from all possible sources?"

Ward 9 Councillor, Donaldson Mabuto, explained that the local authority had already made submissions to the government regarding the issue and hopes their suggestions will be considered.

"About five months ago, we addressed this matter with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Roads in the council chambers. We told them that they were not being sincere with the allocation they were giving us. They may tell us that they are allocating us a specific amount of money, but at the end of the day, they give us a very small fraction of that allocation," Councillor Mabuto said.

"What we suggested to them was that they must provide us with a database of how many cars we have in Bulawayo and how much money they are collecting, broken down in the respective currencies. They only give us local currency through these allocations. The challenge is that the contractors we find to fix our roads require foreign currency. They must give us both local and foreign currency because they are collecting both, and this money must be disbursed in time so that we can effectively service our roads."