News / National
State of city roads must be declared national disaster
24 Jan 2017 at 18:16hrs | Views
An MDC-T senior official Tapiwa Mashakada has said the state of the roads in Zimbabwe's cities must be declared a national disaster.
"The state of Zimbabwe's roads in urban and rural areas must be declared a State of National Disaster. Budget votes will have to be viramented towards roads rehabilitation and I think the arrangement in the 1980s where we used to have the Ministry of Roads under George Silundika must be reintroduced," he said.
"Where is the District Development Fund (DDF)? The brawl between Zinara and urban councils over funds does not help the situation. In my own views, roads must never be the business of local authorities. The state must take over the maintenance of all roads with immediate effect."
He said the private sector must help partner urban councils to repair the road network.
"It is also instructive to know that the collapse of the rail system has put pressure on our roads as heavy cargo is now hauled by road. By-laws are no longer be adhered to as heavy traffic now passes through city centres and surburban areas. The rains have triggered a road network crisis in Zimbabwe and its now a national disaster," said Mashakada.
Government however has declared Harare State of roads as the State of Disaster after assessment which discovered that the roads were in a bad state.
"The state of Zimbabwe's roads in urban and rural areas must be declared a State of National Disaster. Budget votes will have to be viramented towards roads rehabilitation and I think the arrangement in the 1980s where we used to have the Ministry of Roads under George Silundika must be reintroduced," he said.
"Where is the District Development Fund (DDF)? The brawl between Zinara and urban councils over funds does not help the situation. In my own views, roads must never be the business of local authorities. The state must take over the maintenance of all roads with immediate effect."
He said the private sector must help partner urban councils to repair the road network.
"It is also instructive to know that the collapse of the rail system has put pressure on our roads as heavy cargo is now hauled by road. By-laws are no longer be adhered to as heavy traffic now passes through city centres and surburban areas. The rains have triggered a road network crisis in Zimbabwe and its now a national disaster," said Mashakada.
Government however has declared Harare State of roads as the State of Disaster after assessment which discovered that the roads were in a bad state.
Source - Byo24News
